Cape Charles Historic District

A railroad town laid out on a grid in 1884 as the terminus of the line that fed the bay ferries, then left behind when the bridge-tunnel opened in 1964 and the ferries stopped. That neglect preserved it. The result is one of the largest concentrations of turn-of-the-century frame architecture in Virginia: Colonial Revival, Queen Anne and Craftsman houses on wide streets, with a short commercial strip on Mason Avenue that has filled up again with galleries, a brewery and independent shops.

The scale is walkable in under an hour and the town ends directly at a bay beach, which is unusual and makes this the strongest single town stop on the Eastern Shore.

Free street parking, most shops closed Mondays and thinner in winter.