Sunset Creek

Sunset Creek. Hub of Shipbuilding, Fish Packing, and Power Generation. , This tributary of Hampton River has not always been a haven for pleasure boaters but, in earlier days, served as a hub for shipbuilding, fish packing, and power generation. Fleets of Chesapeake Bay log canoes, used for oyster dredging, plied these waters. Originally called Herbert Creek after 18th century shipbuilder John Herbert, it took the name Sunset Creek during the early 1900s. , , By 1902, a large steam power plant was operating on the north side of the creek, supplying electricity for the main trolley car line then operating in Hampton and Newport News, as well as to businesses and homes. In 1944, the power plant became one of the steam-generating stations for Virginia Electric and Power Company. Coal for the plant arrived by barge. , , A smaller trolley company built its power plant on the opposite side of the creek in 1905. When Hampton Roads Traction Company ceased operations nine years later, its abandoned buildings took on new life. A group of Hampton citizens, who had in the latter 19th century organized a light field artillery company as a part of the Virginia National Guard, took over the site as an armory, complete with a horse barn. Known as "Battery D," the unit was mustered into federal service during both the Spanish-American War and World War I and served in Cuba and Europe. After Battery D moved to a new armory in the mid-1930s, the buildings were used for other manufacturing purposes, including Charles Hastings's pioneering Raydist nautical surveying system. , , During World War I, part of Sunset Creek was dredged to a depth of 18 feet to meet the needs of the Newcomb Lifeboat Company, lured to Hampton to compete with the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, which had contracts to build 65-foot wooden sub-chasers and 350-foot ships. Neighbors on the creek could tell when ships were launched because the splash sent waves into their yards. , (captions) , Aerial View of Sunset Creek Courtesy of the Mariners' Museum , , Sunset Creek, c. 1945. In the foreground is Kecoughtan Road. On the left is one of Virginia Electric and Power's main generating plants, and in the center of the image is another power plant, which was converted into an Armory in 1915 for Battery D of the Virginia National Guard. Both power plants were sites for powering trolley cars in the early 1900s. - Courtesy of the Hampton History Museum , , Newcomb Lifeboat Company – Courtesy of the Mariners' Museum