4. Kimages

As Route 76 travels along the James River between Williamsburg and Richmond, cyclists should be aware that they are passing through a region that had some of the oldest and largest plantations in Virginia during two centuries of enslavement. Yet just fifty miles south of where Route 76 passes through these well preserved legacies of plantation slavery, in Southampton county near the North Carolina border, inconspicuous historical markers commemorate a very different moment in the history of Virginia: the uprising of enslaved people led by Nat Turner in 1831. Recognizing the history of brutal oppression inherent in the plantation system provides important perspectives on the forces that shaped, and continue to shape, the history of this region of Virginia. This episode is connected to the region of Kimages, about 60 miles from Yorktown, the starting point for the westbound route, and nearly 500 miles from the Kentucky border, where eastbound riders enter Virginia.