Cape Charles is a town in Northampton County, Virginia, United States. The population was 1,009 at the 2010 census.
History
Cape Charles, located close to the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, on Virginia's Eastern Shore, was founded in 1884 as a planned community by railroad and ferry interests. Historian William G. Thomas writes, "At a cost of nearly $300,000, the N.Y., P. & N. was dredging a new harbor out of a large fresh-water lagoon between King's and Old Plantation creeks in lower Northampton County, and Scott planned to develop a new town around it called Cape Charles City. The appellation "City" for any place on the Eastern Shore was romantic, a vision of the future that the railroad might make possible....In 1890 the Corps of Engineers dredged the harbor basin, its entrance, and a channel through Cherrystone Inlet and built stone jetties protecting the harbor outlet. By 1912 the Corps estimated that Cape Charles harbor handled 2,500,000 tons of freight a year."
Cape Charles was, for many years, the terminal for the Little Creek-Cape Charles Ferry, providing passenger and car ferry service across the bay to Norfolk and Hampton. The last ferry left Cape Charles in 1963. Cape Charles still serves as a terminal for railway barges that carry rail cars from the former Eastern Shore Railroad which is now Bay Coast Railroad across the mouth of the bay to Norfolk. There is also a cement factory nearby.
The town hosted the Northampton Red Sox in the old Eastern Shore Baseball League.
The Cape Charles Historic District and Stratton Manor are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 1,134 people, 536 households, and 278 families residing in the town. The population density was 309.4 people per square mile (119.3/km2). There were 740 housing units at an average density of 201.9 per square mile (77.9/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 53.79% White, 42.86% African American, 0.09% Native American, 0.44% Asian, 1.59% from other races, and 1.23% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.82% of the population.
There were 536 households out of which 21.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 30.4% were married couples living together, 19.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 48.1% were non-families. 43.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 26.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.11 and the average family size was 2.91.
In the town, the age distribution of the population shows 22.1% under the age of 18, 7.1% from 18 to 24, 22.0% from 25 to 44, 25.0% from 45 to 64, and 23.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 76.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 75.9 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $22,237, and the median income for a family was $29,167. Males had a median income of $25,536 versus $23,984 for females. The per capita income for the town was $13,789. About 21.5% of families and 28.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 43.4% of those under age 18 and 23.0% of those age 65 or over.
Geography
Cape Charles is located at 37°16′03″N 76°00′51″W (37.267522, âˆ'76.014125).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 4.4Â square miles (11.3Â km2), of which, 3.7Â square miles (9.5Â km2) of it is land and 0.7Â square miles (1.8Â km2) of it (16.06%) is water.
Climate
Under the Köppen climate classification, Cape Charles features a humid subtropical climate with hot, humid summers and chilly, but not very cold winters. Temperatures routinely exceed 90°F in the summer and typically dips below the freezing point during the winter, though it is somewhat rare for temperatures to dip far below freezing. Cape Charles on average receives roughly 45 inches of precipitation annually.
Notable people
- Johnny Sample, football defensive back, winner of three NFL championships, was from Cape Charles.
References
External links
- Cape Charles by the Bay tourism & visitor information
- Cape Charles Wave (online newspaper)
- Cape Charles, Virginia Guide
- Cape Charles & Chesapeake Bay Live Webcam
- Will Thomas, The Countryside Transformed: The Eastern Shore of Virginia, the Pennsylvania Railroad, and the Creation of a Modern Landscape, Southern Spaces, 31 July 2007.
- Cape Charles Municipal Website
- Northampton County Chamber of Commerce Website
- A finding aid to Historic photographs from Cape Charles, Virginia at Hagley Museum and Library
