Great Shiplock Park

Great Shiplock Park, Dock and Pear streets. Historic working canal lock, trails, fishing and many great views of the tidal James River.

The site is farthest east of the historic James River & Kanawha canal locks. Built in the 1850s with the stone lock completed in 1854, the locks allowed ships to bypass the falls of the James and travel into Virginia's hills by connecting the James with Richmond Dock. Ships were raised from sea level to the height of the dock in each section of the locks, which accomodated ships as large as 180 feet long by 35 feet wide.

The parkland includes the former Trigg Shipyard, which was built in 1898 and went out of business in 1903. Several ships for the U.S. Navy were constructed there, including the USS Schubrick, a torpedo boat used in the Spanish-American War. The site of the former Trigg shipyard is on the eastern tip of Chapel Island on the south bank of the canal.

If you ever go there..please be careful, and stray way from the water. It's deeper than it looks, and apparently 4 people have died there.

But its still nice!