The Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal was built by a corporation in 1856-1860 to afford inland navigation between the Chesapeake Bay and the Albemarle Sound. It is really two canals, thirty miles (50 km) apart, one eight and one-half miles (13.7 km) long, connecting the Elizabeth River with the North Landing River in Virginia, and the other five and one-half miles (8.9 km) long, connecting the Currituck Sound with the North River in North Carolina.