Cape Charles Museum and Welcome Center

in historic Cape Charles on Virginia's Eastern Shore

The Cape Charles Museum and Welcome Center opened in 1996 and is dedicated to preserving and presenting to the public the history of Cape Charles and surrounding areas.   It is the hope of the Cape Charles Historical Society that inspiration from the richness of its past will help guide Cape Charles' renewal and growth.

The Town of Cape Charles was laid out in 1884 to be the southern terminus of the newly formed New York, Philadelphia & Norfolk (NYP&N) Railroad and the transfer point to elegant steamers traveling across the Bay to Norfolk. The town was a busy place for many years: four trains a day from NY, with automobile ferries added in 1931.  But in 1950 the ferries moved to Kiptopeke Terminal seven miles south; Pennsylvania RR steamer service ceased in 1953, passenger trains in 1958.  Freight passage via the link to tug and railroad barge continues to this day in one of the few such operations in the United States.

The architecture of Cape Charles houses has surprising aesthetic and historic interest thanks to a wide variety of styles and gingerbread ornamentation on the older houses.  There are also fine examples of Sears Roebuck mail order houses from the 1920s.  A walk or bike ride through Cape Charles is a good complement to a Museum visit.

Built by  the Eastern Shore Public Service Company in 1947 to house two diesel powered electric generators and subsequently  acquired by Delmarva Power, the Museum Building served as a peaking unit facility into the 1980s.  One of the engines, a 16 1/2" bore Busch-Sulzer diesel fuel injection model, remains in the building as a permanent exhibit.  It has been re-engineered to run as a demonstration unit, and the motion of the pistons and crankshaft can be viewed through Plexiglas windows. 

The diesel which fueled the engines was delivered by rail from the line which runs behind the Museum. Freight trains still pass by to be loaded on barges at the railroad dock in Cape Charles Harbor and drawn by tug across the Bay to Little Creek in Norfolk, as implemented by Alexander Cassatt and William Scott, the town's 19th century founders. Scott, a wealthy Pennsylvania rail and coal magnate and close associate of Grover Cleveland, created a large and successful truck farm beside the new town.  This farm is now the Bay Creek development and golf course.

Alexander Cassatt was the brother of Mary Cassatt, the noted American Impressionist painter who spent most of her life in France.  Following his stint on the Eastern Shore, Cassatt rejoined the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1899 as president and introduced a number of technical innovations including the introduction of the air brake.  His crowning achievement was the construction of the Pennsylvania Terminal in Manhattan, which required tunneling under the Hudson River.  Unfortunately he did not live to see its completion, and the terminal was razed in the 1960s replaced by the Madison Square Garden complex.

The Society's caboose and baggage car are now located on the Museum siding, following the 2002 construction of a connecting switch to the Eastern Shore Railroad line.  The former Bloxom passenger station, dating from the early 1900s and donated to the Society in 1999, has been reconstructed just east of the Museum building.

Exhibits and Collections:

The Historical Society has a rich collection of early postcards, photographs, timetables, documents, and objects which encompass the beginnings of Cape Charles in the 1880s, its houses, churches, schools, harbor and beachfront, commercial enterprises, railroad, and ships.  
 
Local history is presented via “story boards” and models of Eastern Shore sailing vessels, steamers, workboats, barges, and ferries; railroad china, switch locks; Indian artifacts; school memorabilia including a 3-foot megaphone used at 1950s football games. A mockup exhibit of Jefferson’s Store, an early African-American shop in Cape Charles, contains about 100 objects drawn from the Society’s “country store” collection.  Visitors may also learn about the Chesapeake Bay crater, the largest in the U.S., created 35 million years ago, including  a collection of rocks from the 1 mile core sample taken near Cape Charles in 2005, and a number of handouts from the USGS.  Google “Chesapeake Bay crater” and you will find lots more about it.
 
Of important historic interest is the site a few miles south of Cape Charles of a large17th century house originally built by the Custis family.  Now owned by the Arlington Foundation and the subject of several archeological digs, the site is open to visitors; artifacts and a model of the house have been assembled into an exhibit now on permanent display at the Museum.

Other Resources

 The Museum has a small shop with Eastern Shore postcards, books and other items, including DVDs of a 1947 film entitled, “The Story of Mr. Hobbs.”  This was the last film of Nell Shipman, a notable Canadian silent film actress and producer of the early 1900s, and it was shot in Cape Charles, giving us an animated portrait of the town in mid 20th century.  Among the books are many by local authors providing history and travel information for the area.  In its welcome center role, the museum stocks brochures and maps to assist travelers, as well as handouts on a variety of subjects. Museum workers are knowledgeable and always ready to help and advise.
 
To explore a large and growing collection of online Eastern Shore archival photographs, go to: http://www.vcdh.virginia.edu/eshore/index.php. The site can also be reached from the website of the Eastern Shore Public Library, www.espl.org.
 http://www.espl.org
As part of its mission, the Society collects and records memories of older residents and notable events, which can be listened to at the Museum.  We welcome donations of documents, artifacts, postcards, etc related to the history of the area.
 
Twice each year the Historical Society holds fundraising events: a Low Country Shrimp Boil on the Saturday of Garden Week, the last weekend in April, and an Oyster Roast on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Tickets $30 for adults are available over the Internet by sending an email to ccmuseum@hughes.net.   Call the Museum for current information.
 

The Museum is open:
 
Weekdays from  10 am to 2 pm;
Saturdays from 10 am to 5 pm,
and Sundays from 1 - 5 pm
from mid April through November.

For information on exhibits, research materials, and special events, or to request openings by appointment, call  757-331-1008 or write to:
The Cape Charles Historical Society, 
P.O. Box 11, Cape Charles, VA 23310

Cape Charles is readily accessible from the Norfolk - Virginia Beach area and from Delaware and Maryland's Eastern Shore. 

Take  U.S. 13 and follow signs to Cape Charles,  about 10 miles north of the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel.  Go west on State Route 184.  The Museum is 1.8 miles from the intersection of Rt. 13 and Rt. 184, a tall brick building on the south (left) side of the road as you enter the town, just past the water tower.

home| about | membership | museums | resources | events | conferences | employment | classifieds |

site design by sleeping baby productions