Growth Followed the Rails
The Eastern Shore of Virginia, one of the earliest colonized areas in North America, remained a seafood and agricultural region with scattered small towns until the 1880s.
The construction of what is now the . . . — — Map (db m206447) HM
(panel 1)
On June 2, 1608, John Smith and his crew set sail on the first of two voyages exploring the Chesapeake region. Their first stop was the Eastern Shore. At a place near today’s Cape Charles, they saw Indian men fishing with . . . — — Map (db m98497) HM
Two miles west stood Arlington, original home of the Custis Family, built by John Custis. The family tombs are still preserved there. Governor Wm. Berkeley made his headquarters there during Bacon's Rebellion in 1676. Arlington on the Potomac was . . . — — Map (db m98646) HM
In 1676, John Custis II was recognized as a wealthy and powerful man, not only on the Eastern Shore, but also in Jamestown. When Nathaniel Bacon assembled a militia to overthrow the royal government at Jamestown, Governor William Berkeley fled to . . . — — Map (db m98786) HM
The Town of Cape Charles was founded in 1884 by Alexander Cassatt and William L. Scott as the southern terminusof the New York, Philadelphia & Norfolk Railroad. The extension of tracks south from Maryland to Cape Charles opened the Northeastern . . . — — Map (db m48952) HM
Constructed in 1928, this school opened about 1930 for African American children in Cape Charles during
legalized segregation. The building was constructed with contributions from the local African American
community, the State Literary Fund, . . . — — Map (db m51004) HM
This building was constructed in 1901 by R.D.L. Fletcher, Jennings W. Waples, and W.B. Wilson, owners of Cape Charles Ice & Lumber Co., who moved the business to this location from south of the harbor. It is believed to be the first building in . . . — — Map (db m203779) HM
SS Delmarva, SS Princess Anne, and the SS Pocahontas operated out of Cape Charles to Little Creek, VA, from about 1933 to 1950. The first two vessels handled the traffic from 1933 to 1941. In 1941, the SS Pocahontas was . . . — — Map (db m52213) HM
The Chesapeake Bay, vital to the survival of many species of shorebirds and birds of prey, provides fish, mollusks, and crabs as well as a variety of nesting habitats along the Eastern Shore. Many of these birds can be seen gliding along the hulls . . . — — Map (db m98669) HM
Placed in 1948 to create a breakwater for the ferry system, these nine World War II-era concrete ships provide a unique habitat for birds and marine life.
Due to a steel shortage, these ships were built out of concrete in the early 1940s by . . . — — Map (db m98500) HM
who landed at Hunt's Point, Old Plantation Creek, on Easter Sunday 1776 and the same day preached the first Baptist sermon, “At the End of a Horsing Tree.” Opposition of the established church caused him to be deported; but kind Providence brought . . . — — Map (db m224172) HM
Elijah Baker, Baptist preacher, began his ministry in Lunenburg County. As an itinerant in the 1770s, he helped found several churches in the counties along the James and York Rivers. He arrived in this area on Easter Sunday 1776 and traveled to . . . — — Map (db m154163) HM
The Eastern Shore has a rich agricultural history--from large British land grant farms to post-civil war tenant farmers and from large commercial outfits to small organic farms. Agriculture continues to be the largest economic activity on the . . . — — Map (db m98668) HM
Virginia’s southernmost barrier island includes about 1,850 acres of constantly shifting sand. Established as a refuge in 1969, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service acquired the last 25 acres of land in 2000.
Protection Fisherman Island . . . — — Map (db m98484) HM
When the English first visited the Eastern Shore in 1608, they found an area which had been inhabited for centuries by Algonquian Indian Tribes. Today archaeologists have found on or near the Arlington Plantation, shards of ceramics known as Roanoke . . . — — Map (db m98787) HM
Exploratory digs here in 1988 and 1994 uncovered a three brick wide foundation of an extraordinary 17th century home. Measuring 54 feet by 43.5 feet, this huge footing supported a structure described in 1709 as a "...Dwelling House built of brick . . . — — Map (db m98785) HM
Shipping traffic, commercial fisheries, recreation and tourism industries and the military rely on the Chesapeake Bay for its logistic potential. Native American canoes, colonial sailing ships, 20th century schooners, and modern cargo ships have . . . — — Map (db m98665) HM
Rails from the original tracks
laid on the riprap jetty in 1884
by the New York,
Philadelphia & Norfolk Railroad,
for officials to spend the night and
dine overlooking the Chesapeake Bay.
Presented in 1995
by the Eastern Shore . . . — — Map (db m61362) HM
During the early decades of the l7th century, natives of Angola were brought to the Caribbean islands to work on the tobacco and sugar plantations. From there they were brought to Virginia. In 1619 a Dutch man-o-war ship brought the first Negroes . . . — — Map (db m98793) HM
A meteor/comet two miles wide crossed paths with Earth 35 million years ago. Moving at the speed of 21 miles per second, it crashed here, and what is today the town of Cape Charles, creating the sixth largest impact crater on earth.
The meteor . . . — — Map (db m85789) HM
An ever-changing dynamic ecosystem, established dune ridges make up the backbone of the Eastern Shore. Over time, tides and wind cause sand to accumulate creating sand dunes. Intense storms and human impacts can cause erosion to the fragile dune . . . — — Map (db m98671)
In 1882, A.J. Cassatt laid out a new railroad between Pokomoke, MD, and Cape Charles. Construction began April, 1884, the last spike was driven on October 25, 1884.
A.J. Cassatt enhanced the dredging of Cape Charles harbor and designed huge . . . — — Map (db m203786) HM
(Side 1)
Veterans War Memorial
Dedicated by
American Legion
Northampton
Post 56
Cape Charles, VA.
1989
World War II
W. Richard Karla • Joe Restein II • Thomas Savage • Charles K. Bennett • George E. Ward, Jr. • . . . — — Map (db m206348) WM
