the Petersburg Railroad ran through Belfield and (after crossing the Meherrin River) Hicksford
Source: University of Virginia, Plan of the Portsmouth and Roanoke Rail Road
the Petersburg Railroad ran through Belfield and (after crossing the Meherrin River) Hicksford
Source: University of Virginia, Plan of the Portsmouth and Roanoke Rail Road
Hicksford benefitted from being where roads and railroads crossed the Meherrin River
Source: Library of Congress, Rand, McNally & Co.'s North and South Carolina (1878-79)
Hicksford became a railroad junction when the Petersburg Railroad built an extension (the Greensville & Roanoke Railroad) to Gaston, NC
Source: Library of Congress, Map of eastern Virginia (1862)
Meherrin River and Emporia in 1907
Source: Library of Congress, Birds eye view of Emporia, Virginia 1907
Hicksford and Bellfield were still separate communities during the Civil War; there was no "Emporia" then
Source: Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center Collection, Military map of south-eastern Virginia (c.1862)
Hicksford on the south bank of the Meherrin River merged with Belfield on the north bank in 1887 to form Emporia
Source: Library of Congress, A map of the state of Virginia, constructed in conformity to law from the late surveys authorized by the legislature and other original and authentic documents (1859)