The Virginia Capital Trail links Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Richmond, connecting the Commonwealth's past and present capitals across more than 50 miles and 400 years of history along one of the first inland routes in North America. In Richmond, the trail follows the Richmond Dock portion of the James River and Kanawha Canal from Great Ship Lock Park to the floodwall at 17th Street, then connects on the other side to the Canal Walk, which continues to 5th Street and the American Civil War Center at the Tredegar Iron Works. In Richmond, the Slave Trail also traces the history of the trade of enslaved Africans from Africa to Virginia until 1775, and from Virginia, especially Richmond, to other locations in the Americas until 1865. Richmond also includes the Virginia Capitol, designed by Thomas Jefferson in 1785.
