1904

Taylor v. Commonwealth

Supreme Court of Virginia

102 Va. 759, 47 S.E. 875

Taylor had a 250 acre estate that fronted on the York River. She and her predecessors had leased the river bottom for oyster harvesting for many years. The General Assembly passed a bill that allowed the Commonwealth to lease the river bottom nearby her estate, and lessee sunk an artesian well from which it sold the water. Taylor filed a bill alleging that her riparian rights extended from the low watermark to the middle of the navigable channel and the well and oyster beds were hers. Commonwealth replied that Taylor did not own the river bed, and although she could access the water from her land, her ownership in both land and water stopped at the low watermark. Trial court ruled in Commonwealth’s favor and dismissed her action. Supreme Court affirmed. A statute in effect at that time declared that, absent a special grant or compact, the beds of all rivers belonged to the Commonwealth for the benefit of all its citizens.

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