Talk:James River (Virginia)

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[edit] Lynchburg

It's my understanding that the river doesn't actually divide the city of Lynchburg. Yes it does. The river divides Lynchburg from the Amherst County. Madison Heights is on the north side of the river. Is this correct, or are MapQuest and my official Virginia map both lying to me? --MPD01605 (T / C) 02:41, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

You are correct based on the GIS maps I have. The city line is essentially the west bank of the river except for the portion between Daniel Island and US 29 where it runs on the east bank. Saying the river divides Lynchburg is incorrect. --Polaron | Talk 04:02, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

• • • I may have been the editor who made this error. Can someone correct it, please? Vaoverland 08:32, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Longest in a single state?

It states: "It is the largest river in the United States that remains entirely in a single state.", and in Trivia: "The James River is the longest waterway that is wholly contained in one state (Virginia) in the United States.".

This isn't true: the Trinity and Neches in Texas and the Innoko in Alaska are longer; there may be others, depending on what your definition of "wholly contained" is.

I removed that claim because, even with the weasel-words "one of the.." it is still not even close to true. Longer rivers (James River at 340 miles) that are wholly contained in a state include Sacramento River (382 miles), Salmon River (Idaho) (425 miles), Penobscot River (350 miles), Brazos River (1,280 miles)-starts in NM, Colorado River (Texas) (862 miles)-starts in NM, Trinity River (Texas) (550 miles), Nueches River (340 miles), Wisconsin River (430 miles)-starts in Michigan, Innoko River (500 miles), and how knows how many others in Alaska. The states that don't make the list are either smaller than the James River is long (like Massachusetts), or relatively flat or dry states with few rivers arising in their bounds (like South Dakota and Nevada). Anyway, superlatives are the #1 source of misinformation. Pfly 04:41, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

The longest and largest river entirely in one state is the Kuskokwim in Alaska, 720 miles long and a 41,000 cubic ft./sec. average discharge (compared to 7,500 for the James.) It's followed by:

2. Trinity River, Texas 710 / 7,100

3. Sacramento - Pit River, California 690 / 15,000

4. Tanana, Alaska 660 / 24,000

5. Koyukuk, Alaska 520 / 14,000

6. Innoko, Alaska 500

7. Altamaha, Georgia 470 / 14,000

8. Yazoo, Mississippi 465 / 10,000

9. Guadalupe, Texas 460 / 2,100

10. Kentucky, Kentucky 430 / 8,300

11. Salmon, Idaho 420 / 11,000

12. James, Virginia 410 / 7,500

River lengths are always measured in official lists along the longest watercourse, in this case, the source of the Jackson River downstream to where the river begins being called the "James River", and then on to the Chesapeake.

The USGS includes the tidal portions in its official lists, which have the James at 410 miles. It's also 410 miles in World Facts and Figures (John Wiley and Sons)

DLinth 20:08, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Only big city with Class III rapids in North America?

This may be true for the US, but not for N. America, as St. John, New Brunswick has Class III rapids part of each tidal cycle within sight of its tall buildings. DLinth 15:43, 13 September 2007 (UTC)