Leaksville Landing - North Carolina Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

"The river ports of Madison and Leaksville (now Eden) owe their existence to the batteaux that connected the towns to global markets. Water power generated from the rivers formed the basis for the textile industry that brought prosperity for 150 years. Now at the dawn of the 21st Century, the county continues to draw on its clean and beautiful rivers for a bright economic future, which will be based in part on river tourism,” said Butler. The batteau was a double-ended, shallow-draft, flat-bottomed wooden boat used from 1792 to 1900 to transport cargo across the region’s rivers. These boats were considered the “18-wheelers” of their day. Batteaux ranged from 40 to 60 feet long and eight feet wide. The boats were steered by crewmen “walking” long wooden poles from the bow to the stern. Prior to the Civil War the boats were crewed mostly by African-Americans, both slave and free. The African-American batteaumen were highly respected and influential citizens of the river ports in the late nineteenth century. Rockingham County is home to 23 remaining historic navigation structures. The National Register of Historic Places recognized these sites in 1984. This was the first batteau navigation system to be nominated in the United States and is marked by two state historical markers: one at Leaksville Landing in Eden, the only surviving batteau port in the United States, and one at Slink Shoal Sluice below the US 220 bridge in Madison.

Marker Name: Leaksville Landing J 91 Marker Type: Roadside Required Waymark Photo: yes Related Web Link: Not listed Local North Carolina markers without State Number Designation: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   12/26/2018 NCDaywalker visited it 06/04/2012 FRESH AIR53 visited it 04/13/2011 Padon visited it 02/15/2008 3newsomes visited it

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