University of Virginia Library

Topography.

ALBEMARLE COUNTY lies close to the geographical
centre of the State of Virginia, and is the fifth largest
county in it, having an area of 755 square miles. It lies
mainly in the noted Piedmont region of the State, a region
famous for the fertility of its soils, the abundance and excellence
of its waters, the beauty of its scenery, the salubrity of
its climate, and the intelligence and hospitality of its citizens.
The western portion of the county lies in the Blue Ridge and
the eastern in Midland Virginias. These three regions are
natural divisions, marked as well by decided differences in the
character of the soils as by natural boundaries.

The average elevation of Midland Albemarle above tide is
about 300 feet; it is a rolling plain with some hills rising to
500 feet. In the Southwest Mountains which constitute the
natural boundary between Midland and Piedmont Albemarle,
there are some peaks as high as 1800 feet above tide.

Piedmont Albemarle is about 400 feet in the eastern part,
rising to 1000 in the western where it merges into the Blue
Ridge, which at Jarman's Gap rises to the height of 3161 feet
above tide. Between the Southwest and Blue Ridge Mountains,
there is a chain known as the Ragged Mountains with
a few peaks 2000 feet above tide.

The James River flows along the southeastern boundary
of the county and receives Rockfish, Hardware and Rivanna
rivers, which with their tributaries Mechum's, Moorman's and
Lynch rivers and Doyles', Buck Mountain and Buck Island
creeks, rising in the western part of the county, flow towards
the southeast, draining the county thoroughly. These small
streams are always well-filled with good water, derived from

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There is much diversity in the nature of the soils of the
county, in consequence of the great variability in the rocks
from whose decomposition the soils are derived. In Midland
Albemarle they are most commonly of a grayish color, and
being derived principally from slates are light, but quite fertile
under good cultivation. Along the eastern and western borders
of the Southwest and Greene Mountains, the soils are of
a deep red color, owing to the presence of large amounts of
Titanium oxide and the occurrence of minerals of the Hornblende
and Epidote groups in the rocks from whose decomposition
the soils are derived. These soils are very fertile,
but are heavy when wet, do not retain moisture, and are,
therefore, apt to suffer during a protracted drought. East of
this belt, and south of the Hardware river, the rocks are of the
Mesozoic age principally, and the soils are mainly chocolate
colored. These are of the best, perhaps, in the county. In
Blue Ridge and Piedmont Albemarle we find alternating grey
and red soils. The red soils which usually are derived from
the decomposition of epidotic and hornblendic rocks, and
those of the grey soils derived from feldspathic rocks, are notably
fertile.

Alluvial bottoms are as common as the creeks and rivers;
are of good depth, easily worked, seldom overflowed at seasons
when growing crops could be seriously injured, and are
very productive for small outlays of labor.

Between Moorman's and Doyle's rivers, in the Whitehall
district, the underlying Archæan rocks have been largely
covered with the detritus of these streams, brought from the
Blue Ridge. The detritus consists of much fine material, in
which are imbedded rocks and bowlders showing the action
of running water. These soils are very productive, and this
is one of the finest localities in the county.

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Fertile as the soils of Albemarle naturally are, many of them
have suffered from insufficient working, due, no doubt, to the
changed conditions of labor and to the large areas which have
been, until recently, worked by individual land-holders. The
farms are now being subdivided, resulting in their improved
working, and in yielding a correspondingly larger return for
the labor expended.