Photos by Mike Tripp
The story of Frank Padget is one I’ve known for the past 30ish years.
Also seemed like a good place to begin my 2021 journey in what I’m dubbing …. “The Year of Adventure.”
It’s best to let the words from the historical marker at the location relate the story:
Heavy rains in late Jan. 1864 left the James River and the treacherous Balcony Falls in full flood. On 21 Jan., the canal boat Clinton and its passengers became stranded in the raging waters. Frank Padget, a skilled boatman and slave, led four other men to rescue them. In a heroic attempt to save the last passenger, Padget drowned, unable to fight the rushing current. Capt. Edward Echols, who witnessed Padget’s act, was so moved he commissioned the construction of a granite obelisk monument that was erected beside Lock 16 of the Blue Ridge Canal. It now stands here in Glasgow’s Centenniel Park.
~ Frank Padget Water Tragedy Marker, L-63
The monument was originally alongside the old canal towpath on the James River at Balcony Falls.
The railroad soon replaced the canals with the towpath becoming the path of the railroad.
Public access disappeared as the only way to see the monument was by trespassing on railroad property … until it was finally moved to Centennial Park in Glasgow where it remains today.
For me, this is history and is worth a quick detour that will only delay your travel but a moment.
The obelisk located at the site reads as follows:
Frank Padget
A coloured slave, who, during a freshet in James’ River, in January 1854, ventured and lost his life, by drowning, in the noble effort to save some of his fellow Creature’s, who were in the midst of the flood, from death.
~ Obelisk located at Glasgow’s Centenniel Park
The monument was originally alongside the old canal towpath on the James River at Balcony Falls.
The railroad soon replaced the canals with the towpath becoming the path of the railroad.
Public access disappeared as the only way to see the monument was by trespassing on railroad property … until it was finally moved to Centennial Park in Glasgow where it remains today.
For me, this is history and is worth a quick detour that will only delay your travel but a moment.