The James River is formed by Jackson's and Cowpasture rivers, which rise in the Allegheny Mountains and united in the northernmost part of
Botetourt County. It flows in an east-south-east direction and at
Richmond falls 100 feet in six miles. For the latter part of its length it is an imposing estuary flowing through
Hampton Roads into
Chesapeake Bay. Its chief tributaries at the Appomattox and the Chickahominy.
