Manchester Bridge

Old Manchester Bridge

Richmond, Virginia

23224

Manchester Bridge was one of many bridge expansion projects across the James in antebellum Richmond.  Manchester was originally a city independent from Richmond that was known for its active ports via its prime locale on the canal.  Staples of Richmond agriculture and commerce, including tobacco, coal, and iron were manufactured and exported through this area of the City on an exponential scale. Manchester is perhaps most notably recognized as one of the major slave import cities in the eighteenth century United States.[i]  The slave market was able to thrive in this locale due to the docks and mills along the canal, providing a prime opportunity for marketing commodities.[ii] This solidified Richmond as a culture and economy rooted in slavery; catapulting Richmond to become the largest slaves state by 1860, home to about half a million slaves. [iii]  The immense history of the African American slave experience in Old Manchester can be explored by guests via the Canal Walk.  There is a “slave trail” which is about three miles long that reaches the Manchester Docks as well as Lumpkin’s Slave Jail and other significant sites along the James.  Additionally, the old pier on the south end of the Manchester Bridge is now the site of Manchester Climbing Wall, a locale frequently used by Richmond climbers. 

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[i] McGraw, Marie Tyler,  At the Falls: Richmond, Virginia and Its People, North Carolina: UNC Press Books, 1994, 1.

[ii] McGraw, Marie Tyler, At the Falls: Richmond, Virginia and Its People, North Carolina, UNC Press Books, 1994, 1.

[iii] Link, William A., Roots of Secession: Slavery and Politics in Antebellum Virginia, The University of North Carolina Press, 2003, 3.