Founding of the Railroad The Clover Hill Railroad Company was chartered in 1841 by the
Virginia General Assembly to do business with the
Richmond and Petersburg Railroad but was not allowed to charge more than 2 cents per bushel of coal shipped over the railroad. In 1845 the Clover Hill Railroad replaced the mules that brought coal from the Clover Hill Pitts to the Appomattox at
Eppington to be shipped on the
Upper Appomattox Canal Navigation System to
Petersburg. In 1847, October 1, the Clover Mining Company built of railroad from the coal mines at Winterpock to the town of Chester to make a spur of the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad. By 1848 the railroad spur had hauled 56 tons of coal for export and 22 tons for use in Richmond and Petersburg. The Clover Hill struggled with increases charged on prices for transporting coal to Richmond, Petersburg and
Port Walthall by the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad in 1854. The Clover Hill also found it necessary to ask the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad to fulfill their agreements and maintain the Clover Hill Railroad tracks. In 1866 the Clover Hill Mining Company built a
wharf at Osborne's Landing in order to load the coal on to ships to the coast. The line was extended to Osborne's Landing in 1867.
American Civil War and the Clover Hill Railroad During the
Civil War, the
Confederate States needed coal because they could not get it from
Pennsylvania. They turned to mines in
Midlothian and Clover Hill, Virginia. DS Woolridge, a Confederate government coal agent in Richmond, wrote in 1862 that he had received, by way of the Clover Hill Railroad, over 1320 bushels of coal for delivery to
Manassas, Virginia. The Clover Hill Coal Mines were one of the main suppliers of coal to the
Tredegar Iron Works for Confederate arms.
Coke, a very pure coal-based fuel, was also made at Winterpock from 1865 to 1870 for use in Tredegar.
Bankruptcy The demand for coal from the mine declined after the Civil War. The railroad lost money, and in 1877 the Railroad and Mines were sold to the Brighthope Mining Company. In 1881, the line was reconstituted by investors as the
Brighthope Railway. ==Presidents==