Cape Charles Historic District

The Cape Charles Historic District is located in and around Cape Charles' Central Park neighborhood, within walking distance of the harbor and the Chesapeake Bay. It includes most of the town of Cape Charles. The historic district features a range of architectural styles representing the period between 1880 and 1920. These styles include Queen Anne, Victorian Italianate, Gothic Revival, Neoclassical, Colonial Revival, and Bungalow. In addition to architect-designed residential, commercial, and municipal buildings constructed circa 1890 to 1920, the architecture reflects vernacular housing for workers built in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when Cape Charles became an important hub for railway-to-steamship transport. The Cape Charles Historic District was nominated to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.

In 1883 -1884, the town of Cape Charles was laid out as the southern terminus of the New York, Philadelphia, & Norfolk Railroad (NYP&N). Although it is located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, Cape Charles is situated on the southwestern side of the Delmarva peninsula, which extends into Chesapeake Bay. At the turn of the twentieth century, the town of Cape Charles was the largest settlement on Virginia's Eastern Shore.

Serving as the southern terminus of the New York, Philadelphia, & Norfolk Railroad put Cape Charles on the map. In conjunction with the extension of the railway line into the Delmarva peninsula, the Cape Charles harbor was dredged so that the railroad company could directly transport loaded railway cars by barge across the bay to Norfolk, Virginia. In addition to direct railway-to barge transfer for the transport of goods to the opposite side of the bay, steamship ferries also provided passenger transport to Norfolk during the next several decades until the mid-twentieth century.

From its inception, the town of Cape Charles was defined by its connection with this waterway transportation route to Norfolk and also by its connection to the northern cities of New York and Philadelphia. With the establishment of the town in the late 1800s and throughout the early decades of the twentieth century, Cape Charles reflected an interesting mix of vernacular architecture built as workers' housing along with architect-designed residential, municipal, and commercial structures. Town streets were initially laid out on a twenty-seven block grid pattern, based around a central park, from which four main landscaped streets extended.

However, when the railroad line and freight transfer to Norfolk ceased during the 1950s, Cape Charles became frozen in time, so to speak, with almost no new development. This eventually sparked an interest in preserving many of the historic buildings in the town. Through the efforts of local preservationists, the Cape Charles Historic District was nominated to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991. The historic district, which includes most of Cape Charles, includes nearly 530 historic buildings. It spans from Bay Avenue to the west, to Mason Avenue to the south, Fig Street to the east, and Washington Avenue to the north.

182-0002 Cape Charles Historic District, Virginia.gov. Accessed March 27th 2022. https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/182-0002/.

Nomination Form - National Register of Historic Places, Virginia.gov. Accessed March 27th 2022. https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/182-0002_Cape_Charles_HD_1991_Final_Nomination.pdf.

Cape Charles Museum and Welcome Center in historic Cape Charles on Virginia's Eastern Shore, Cape Charles Museum and Welcome Center. Accessed March 27th 2022. https://smallmuseum.org/capechas.html/.

Cribb, Betsy. Cape Charles Is The Best Little Beach Town in Virginia, June 17th 2021. Accessed March 30th 2022. https://www.southernliving.com/travel/virginia/cape-charles-va-beach-town.