vol. 273 / ISLAND TIMEExploring and celebrating the place we all love to call home.
VOL. 273 / ISLAND TIME
Meet this week's guest editor, Andy Thompson—former Richmond Times-Dispatch outdoors columnist, podcast host, and the self-proclaimed mad scientist behind Richmond’s camping and event destination, Sharp’s Island. This one-acre sliver of sandy rebellion in the heart of downtown is Richmond’s only legal camping spot. Part natural playground, part public art experiment, and part living history lab, Sharp’s Island is where granite meets grit, and urban energy meets wild imagination.
“The James River gifts Richmond with a string of accessible islands as it rolls through the city. And should you ever get marooned without a conch shell to communicate, rest assured—you can always call the fire department,” says Andy. “Losing yourself for a day, or more, on an island in the falls of the James is a gift precious few American cities offer.”
In the hopes that you won’t squander that gift, Andy is here this week to offer his guide to his top three island adventures in RVA. Take it away, Andy ...
Williams Island
Stand on Riverside Drive just upstream of the Pony Pasture rapids and look north across the river. What appears to be the north bank of the James is actually the 95-acre Williams Island. Boaters know the island as the place used to portage around the low-head Z-Dam before navigating Pony Pasture. People walking their boats 50 yards make up the vast majority of the traffic Williams Island sees. But it’s massive—at least by Richmond island standards—so big that black bears have been spotted there, bald eagles have nested in its pines, and an albino deer once called it home. If Lord of the Flies were set in Richmond, Williams Island would be on the location short list.
Instead of simply using it as a waystation to points downstream, pack a picnic and give yourself a few hours to explore. Only the south bank offers much in the way of trails, but most of the island is easily bushwhackable. Head to the north bank to see the river channel formed by a different dam at the downstream end of the island. Crisscross the island’s middle in search of archaeological oddities. Then find the old (illegal) campsite at the base of the aforementioned northside dam and watch people play in the Pony Pasture rapids while you polish off lunch.
Vitals:
Put your canoe in at the Huguenot Flatwater boat ramp. Paddle under the Huguenot Bridge and then continue another half-mile or so. You’ll see signs that the Z-Dam is ahead — do NOT approach Z-Dam. Williams is the big island on river left with the portage sign. STAY RIVER LEFT and take out there.
Vauxhall Island
The downtown archipelago of islands surrounding Mayo Island is rich in adventure opportunities, but you should seek out Vauxhall Island because, in addition to solitude and natural beauty, it offers evidence of one of Richmond’s most overlooked historic disasters. Long story very short: on July 2, 1869, a massive barbecue-party-political fundraiser was planned for Kitchen Island, connected to Vauxhall via a chain bridge. As state underwater archaeologist Brendan Burke writes, “fires were lit on the island to cook heaps of food. A band set up and, around noon, started to play. There was a bar with free liquor, a dance, and even a swing for partygoers to enjoy.” All of this on the now mostly ignored islands downtown!
At some point in the festivities, the bridge linking the islands collapsed from the weight of the partygoers. At least 15 people fell into the rushing waters. The history is fascinating, but what makes this island worth the effort to get there is the archaeology: remnants of the Vauxhall Chain Bridge remain protruding from the ground. Read Burke’s history. Add context from Harry Kollatz’s piece in Richmond Magazine. Then embark on a treasure hunt. At worst, you’ll end up surrounded by rushing rapids, amazed at the beauty surrounding you in the heart of the city.
Vitals:
Getting to Vauxhall Island isn’t easy, as the former Pipeline Walkway section of the James River Park is shut down and off-limits. Instead, put a kayak in at the 14th Street Takeout and paddle upstream underneath the Mayo/14th Street Bridge. Vauxhall is the 3-acre island on the left with the train tracks passing across it.
Sharp's Island
Like Williams and Vauxhall, one-acre Sharp’s Island makes you realize Richmonders didn’t always ignore their green jewels in the James. They used them for industry; they partied on them. They even lived on them. The brick ruins of a two-story house built in 1895 remain (and are strewn around) on Sharp’s Island. The house stood for 75 years before human intervention and floods laid it low. Before that, Manchester residents partied on the island; steamships anchored off of it; historic re-enactments took place there; a wife even shot her husband there!
Sharp’s Island is the Janus of Richmond islands: its face is half Piedmont, half Coastal Plain. The upstream half is a granite outcrop. That’s where the old homesite sits. The downstream half is tidal, with sand beaches strung between sycamores and river birches. Sharp’s is a private island, which rankles some. I get it: it’s a strange thing to say you own an island. Ten Richmond families (including mine) own this one. But more than anything, we want to share it. You can find it on Airbnb and Hipcamp, or you can shoot me an email, and I’ll either give you the tour or I’ll give you the OK to check it out yourself. There’s no better place to string a hammock and loll away the day—completely surrounded by, yet somehow insulated from, the urban hubbub.
Vitals:
Sharp’s Island sits upstream of the Mayo Bridge, between the south bank of the river and Mayo Island. You can motor up to it from Ancarrow’s Landing or walk your canoe there from the Floodwall Parking Lot.
Sharp's Island Podcast
The Sharps Island Podcast, produced in partnership with Richmond Grid and Nodderly, is not your typical podcast. It’s the only one recorded on an island in downtown Richmond—and it offers something refreshingly different: real conversations with Richmonders who paddle out, kick off their shoes, and sink into stories with their feet in the sand and the city skyline behind them.
The debut episode features host Andy Thompson and longtime collaborator Matt Perry, owner of Riverside Outfitters. Together, they walk the island’s edge, settle into the Hobbit Hole cabin, and trade stories as osprey soar overhead.
The Sharps Island Podcast asks where Richmond is headed, what we’re holding onto, and what we’re willing to paddle toward. The next episode drops next week.
