The Richmond and York River Railroad Company was incorporated under an act of the Virginia General Assembly on January 31, 1853. The State of Virginia subscribed to 60 per cent of the capital stock. The company built and initially operated of railroad line between Richmond, Virginia and West Point, Virginia on the York River. The railroad prospered during the first year of the American Civil War but was wrecked during the Peninsula Campaign. It was rebuilt after the Civil War. In 1894, it became part of the Southern Railway Company. Organization; American Civil War In January 1857, the Richmond and York River Railroad Company issued $400,000 in mortgage bonds. Before and during the American Civil War, the company repaid $53,000 on the mortgage dated September 9, 1859 which secured these bonds. The State increased its subscription to the capital stock of the company under an act of the Virginia General Assembly passed March 25, 1858. In 1861, the company completed construction of of railroad line between Richmond, Virginia and West Point, Virginia on the York River, which was opened for operation on March 29, 1861. The western terminus was adjacent to Richmond's Tobacco Row. West Point was a shipping port at the head of the York River, which is formed by the confluence of the Pamunkey River and the Mattaponi River. The Virginia General Assembly passed an act on February 13, 1861, under which the company purchased the steamer West Point to operate from the terminal and to make connections with steamboat lines or other navigation lines. Initially, the railroad made a profit transporting supplies for the Confederate States of America Government. The railroad was wrecked during the Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War in 1862 and was completely abandoned for several years. Rehabilitation and reorganization After the Civil War, the holders of the remaining $347,000 of bonds agreed to subordinate their lien to the lien of a new mortgage dated January 1, 1866 in order to raise funds to rebuild the railroad. The line reopened in 1867. On June 27, 1870, the Virginia General Assembly authorized extension of the line to a point on the Chesapeake Bay or its tributaries between the mouth of the Rappahannock River and Yorktown, Virginia The company became bankrupt before this extension of the line, which was to be located about east to the mouth of the Piankatank River in Gloucester County, Virginia