Cape Henry Railroads

KV-24

The first railroad to Cape Henry was a temporary tramway built in 1880 to transport materials for the construction of the new Cape Henry Lighthouse. In 1902 the Chesapeake Transit Company opened an electric rail line from Norfolk to the cape, allowing a resort village to develop. A brick passenger depot, 250 yards northwest of here, opened in 1904. Later that year, the line merged with the Norfolk and Southern Railroad. The U.S. Army established Fort Story here in 1914 and laid new track. During World War II the army used these tracks to transport artillery and ammunition for the coastal defense system. Commercial and passenger service to Cape Henry ended in 1947.

Department of Historic Resources, 2017

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References/Bibliographic Citation:

Jonathan Mark Souther, “Twixt Ocean and Pines: The Seaside Resort at Virginia Beach, 1880-1930” (M.A. Thesis, University of Richmond, 1996). Annual Report of the Light-House Board (1881) Street Railway Journal, 30 April 1904. Fortifications Bill, 1919, Hearings Before Subcommittee of House Committee on Appropriations (1918) History of the Norfolk & Southern Railroad Company and of its Constituent Companies (1905) Richmond Times, 30 Jan. 1901, 20 Sept. 1902. Richmond Dispatch, 7 Sept. 1902. Washington Times, 9 Feb. 1903. Richmond Times-Dispatch, 29 March, 21 Oct. 1903. Washington Evening Star, 16 April 1904. Stephen S. Mansfield, Princess Anne County and Virginia Beach (1989).