Phoebus in Hampton, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)

Chesapeake & Ohio

Easternmost Terminus

Photographed by Brandon D Cross, October 12, 2023

1. Chesapeake & Ohio Marker

Inscription. Right in the middle of this playground stood, for a time, the easternmost terminus of one of America's great train lines, the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway. It was the dream of railroad magnate and shipbuilder Collis P. Huntington to augment transcontinental rail service from the Pacific to the Atlantic. In 1881, he began the extension of the Chesapeake & Ohio railroad, already existing from Cincinnati to Richmond, down to Newport News in order to carry West Virginian coal to a shipping point. Harrison Phoebus, the enterprising owner of the palatial Hygeia Hotel, helped convince Huntington to push the Chesapeake & Ohio Engine 449 on the Turntable in Phoebus line all the way to Old Point. At first he had to stop in what became Phoebus because the Army opposed the project, and guests bound for the Hygeia had to be transported to the resort by carriage. It was a measure of Phoebus's persistence that the station—and eventually the town—was named for him.

Finally, in 1889, the Army relented and construction began on a train trestle across Mill Creek and a train station next to Fort Monroe, called by one historian "a tour de force

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in Victorian gingerbread architecture." A historic marker on the fort near the marina shows the location of Milepost Zero. From there, the line extended 664.9 miles to Cincinnati. Milepost 1 was at Phoebus. Because there was no place at Old Point to turn around, the train apparently pivoted at a turntable near the present ballpark on Willard Avenue and backed all the way to the fort.

An advertisement in 1905 showed the train departures from Old Point Comfort and Phoebus three minutes apart. In the same year, the round-trip fare to Richmond was one dollar. There were special excursion trips from Richmond to a new, popular resort, Buckroe Beach, thanks to a spur connecting the trains to special wide gauge trolley tracks. The Phoebus station burned down in 1964, leaving a trail or two through the woods as the only evidence that trains once passed this way.

Bringing History to Life
For more visitor information visit: www.visithampton.com
in partnership with Virginia Civil War Trails, www.civilwartrails.org
(caption) Chesapeake & Ohio Engine 449 on the Turntable in Phoebus — Courtesy of the Hampton History Museum

Erected by City

Photographed by Brandon D Cross, October 12, 2023

2. Chesapeake & Ohio Marker

of Hampton.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Forts and Castles • Industry & Commerce • Railroads & Streetcars. A significant historical year for this entry is 1881.

Location. 37° 1.207′ N, 76° 19.19′ W. Marker is in Hampton, Virginia. It is in Phoebus. It is on North Mallory Street (Virginia Route 169) south of East Sewell Avenue, on the left when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 36 N Mallory St, Hampton VA 23663, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is on Virginia’s Peninsula

and in Coastal Virginia.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Upper South,

in the Tidewater,

and on the Eastern Seaboard. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance

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of this marker: Phoebus - The Gateway To The New World (approx. 0.2 miles away); Harrison Phoebus (approx. 0.2 miles away); Phoebus Life (approx. 0.2 miles away); Town Hall / Fire Department (approx. ¼ mile away); In Memoriam (approx. ¼ mile away); Saint Mary Star Of The Sea And Its School (approx. 0.3 miles away); Phoebus (approx. 0.4 miles away); A National Cemetery System (approx. 0.4 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Hampton.

Also see . . . Peninsula Extension. (Submitted on October 15, 2023, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida.)

Credits. This page was last revised on October 17, 2023. It was originally submitted on October 15, 2023, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida. This page has been viewed 852 times since then and 106 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on October 15, 2023, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.