Eastern Shore · VA
Cape Charles
A railroad ferry town with the bay side's only public beach.
- Population
- 1,178 (2020 census)
- Founded
- 1884
- Last ferry
- 1963
Then
- 1884
Railroad president William Lawrence Scott lays out the town at Cherrystone Harbor as the southern end of the New York, Philadelphia and Norfolk Railroad.
- 1890
The harbor is dredged for steamships and freighters to Norfolk.
- 1963
The last ferry leaves Cape Charles for Little Creek.
Now
The town beach, half a mile along Bay Avenue, is the only public beach on the bay side of Virginia's Eastern Shore. Kiptopeke, Fishermans Island and the mouth of the bay lie to the south.
8 tide stations around Cape Charles
- Cape Charles Harborin town
- Old Plantation Light3.0 mi
- Oyster Harbor5.2 mi
- Kiptopeke Beach7.2 mi
- Smith Island (Coast Guard Station)11.5 mi
- Fishermans Island11.9 mi
- Wolf Trap Light12.8 mi
- Sand Shoal Inlet (Coast Guard Station)13.3 mi