Belle Isle

Belle Isle is a rocky, 54-acre island in the rapids of the James River at Richmond, Virginia. A wooded hill rises about 120 feet at its western end, while a flat, sandy area spreads to the east. The island was first known as Broad Rock Island and was owned by the Byrd family for a century. Around 1814 a nail factory was built there, followed by a mill, and the Belle Isle Manufacturing Company and later the Old Dominion Iron and Nail Works produced iron goods until 1972. Granite quarries also operated on the island. During the Civil War the eastern end held a Confederate prison camp for captured Union soldiers, opened in 1862 and closed in 1865. Overcrowding and shortages of food and shelter made it notorious. Ruins of mills, a power plant, a rolling mill and railroad piers remain, along with an artillery emplacement. The island is now a city park, listed for its industrial and military history.