National Register of Historic Places

Cape Charles Historic District

Cape Charles, Northampton County, Virginia
Listed
January 3, 1991
Type
District
Period
Listed
Ref No.
90002122

About this property

Cape Charles Historic District is a national historic district located at Cape Charles, Northampton County, Virginia. The Town was surveyed by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources in 1989, and a National Register Historic District was created and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Pennsylvania politician, businessman and horse aficionado William Lawrence Scott caused Pocomoke City, Maryland, engineer Robert Bauman to lay out a town at the southern terminus of his New York, Philadelphia and Norfolk Railroad, which was constructed in the 1880s and allowed agricultural produce and goods from the Delmarva Peninsula to be shipped across the Chesapeake Bay much more economically than previously. The town grew as the railroad brought passengers and freight, but stagnated after World War II and especially after passenger rail service ended in 1958. Ferry service also ended about three decades ago. The district encompasses 526 contributing buildings and 3 contributing structures in the town of Cape Charles. The buildings relate to the town's development as a harbor and railroad town in the late-19th and early-20th century. Notable buildings include the Seafood Headquarters (c. 1886), McCrory's Store annex (c. 1900), Mitchell House (1884), Jack Moore House (c. 1910), A. L. Detwiler House (1919), Kellogg House (1924), Mumford Bank (c. 1895), Parsons Building, Watson's Hardware, Mack Building, Palace Theatre, Municipal Building, St. Stephen's African Methodist Episcopal Church (1885, 1912), St. Charles Roman Catholic Church (1889), Trinity United Methodist Church (1893), the former Presbyterian church (1902, Cape Charles Memorial Library), First Presbyterian Church (1926), and U.S. Post Office (1932). The oldest house now in Cape Charles is a dwelling just east of the Municipal building on Mason Avenue, built late in the fall of 1883. It was built on the railroad property, but later moved across the street to its present site at 515 Mason Ave. (1883) It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.

Location

Cape Charles, Northampton County, Virginia
37.27046, -76.01500

Categories

COMMUNITY PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENTTRANSPORTATIONARCHITECTURE
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Everything a full report reveals about Cape Charles Historic District

This page lists Cape Charles Historic District. A full Aubrey report for an address near it pulls together this listing alongside battlefield records, land patents, and every other historical record within a chosen radius:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with historic sites, battles and Native heritage plotted, and its full story era by era.
The Land
The historic sites and place names around the location, and how this land was settled and used.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back millions of years.
LiDAR Terrain
Laser-scanned terrain that reveals earthworks and old features hidden in the landscape.
Conflict & War
The battles, raids and skirmishes fought near here, across every era of American conflict.
The Civil War
The Civil War on this ground, 1861 to 1865: who held it, and the battles, camps and regiments nearby.
The Soldiers
The men who marched from here in the Civil War, named and traced where the record allows.
Native Heritage
The Native nations who held this land, mapped across time from before European contact to today.
Settlement
Who claimed and held this ground, from Indigenous homelands through the colonial powers to the United States.
The Community
How the town grew, who came, and what kind of place it became, traced through the census record.
Rivers & Rail
The rivers, canals and railroads that connected this place between 1830 and 1911.
Notable People
The people born, buried or genuinely tied to this exact place, with their stories.
Historical Maps
Historic maps of the location layered over how it looks today.
Finds & Access
Museum objects tied to the area, and the laws on searching, collecting and access here.
Literature
The old books, county histories and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Points of Interest
The most significant historic sites and landmarks near the location, and why they matter.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from first peoples to the present day.
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Nearby Historic Sites

Cape Charles Rosenwald School
Industrial
0.6 mi
Stratton Manor
Industrial
1.8 mi
Custis Tombs
Colonial
2.9 mi
Eyre Hall
Colonial
3.6 mi
Cessford
Industrial
6.6 mi

Questions about this property

When was Cape Charles Historic District listed on the National Register?

Cape Charles Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 3, 1991.

What type of historic resource is Cape Charles Historic District?

Cape Charles Historic District is classified as a district in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Cape Charles Historic District?

The period of significance for Cape Charles Historic District is recorded as the listed era.

Can I research the history near Cape Charles Historic District?

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