The History of Bateau

At Bateau, we celebrate our rich history and the importance of place.
Our name comes from bateaumen and their boats who traveled Richmond’s waterways.

The bateau

From the time of the American Revolution until the 1840s, long, shallow-draft boats called bateaux plied the James River, transporting tobacco, wheat, coal, and other goods downstream to Richmond. 

BATEAUMEN

In the absence of accounts by the bateaumen themselves, we are left with the romanticized, and inevitably racist, observations of white travelers of the day. Still, their chronicles offer us glimpses of 19th-century life and labor on Virginia’s waterways. 

THE HEADSMAN

On Brown’s Island in the center of Richmond stands The Headman by Paul DiPasquale. The statue is a memorial to the African American bateaumen who navigated the rivers and canals of Virginia during the 18th and 19th centuries.