Buckroe Beach is a neighborhood in the

independent city An independent city or independent town is a city or town that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity (such as a province). Historical precursors In the Holy Roman Empire, and to a degree in its successor states ...

Hampton Hampton may refer to: Places Australia *Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia *Hampton, New South Wales *Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region *Hampton, Victoria Canada *Hampton, New Brunswick *Hamp ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. It lies just north of

Fort Monroe Fort Monroe, managed by partnership between the Fort Monroe Authority for the Commonwealth of Virginia, the National Park Service as the Fort Monroe National Monument, and the City of Hampton, is a former military installation in Hampton, Virgi ...

on the

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...

. One of the oldest recreational areas in the state, it was long located in

Elizabeth City County Elizabeth City County was a county in southeastern Virginia from 1634 until 1952 when it was merged into the city of Hampton. Originally created in 1634 as Elizabeth River Shire, it was one of eight shires created in the Virginia Colony by order ...

near the downtown area of the lost town of

Phoebus Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

prior to their consolidation with Hampton in 1952.

History

In 1619, the "Buck Roe" Plantation was designated for public use for the newly arrived English settlers of the

Virginia Company of London The London Company, officially known as the Virginia Company of London, was a division of the Virginia Company with responsibility for colonizing the east coast of North America between latitudes 34° and 41° N. History Origins The territor ...

. In 1620, the London Company sent Frenchmen there to teach the colonists grape and

silkworm The domestic silk moth (''Bombyx mori''), is an insect from the moth family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of ''Bombyx mandarina'', the wild silk moth. The silkworm is the larva or caterpillar of a silk moth. It is an economically imp ...

culture. By 1637, however, Buck Roe

Plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

had joined the rest of the colony as a

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

field. Buckroe was used as a fishing camp until after the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. At the urging of community leader

Harrison Phoebus Harrison Phoebus (born Levin James Harrison Phoebus, November 1, 1840 – February 25, 1886) was an American 19th century entrepreneur and hotel manager, hotelier who became the leading citizen and namesake of the town of Phoebus, Virginia, Phoebus ...

, the

Chesapeake and Ohio Railway The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P. Huntington, it reached from Virginia's capital city of Richmond t ...

built by

Collis Huntington Collis Potter Huntington (October 22, 1821 – August 13, 1900) was an American industrialist and railway magnate. He was one of the Big Four of western railroading (along with Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, and Charles Crocker) who invested i ...

extended its tracks to the area in 1882. A boarding house for summer visitors was opened by Civil War widow of Joseph Bowers Herbert, Mrs. Mary Ann Dobbins Herbert, in 1883, and the next year a public bath house was built and tourists were brought in horse-drawn carriages. In 1897, a local entrepreneur extended his electric trolley car line to Buckroe, opened a hotel, a pavilion for dancing and an amusement park. In 1898, several businessmen purchased a beachfront for blacks next to Buckroe Beach, naming it

Bay Shore Beach Bay Shore Beach was a beach that existed adjacent to Buckroe Beach in Hampton, Virginia in the 20th century. It was founded in 1898 by several African-American businessmen. The beach was one of the most popular resort and vacation destinations ...

& Resort. This amusement park and vacation destination rivaled the popularity of Buckroe Beach while racial segregation was still in effect. The amusement park and adjacent public beach were popular destinations for social outings in the late 19th and first half of the 20th centuries. Until World War II the C&O had summer excursion service to Buckroe, using its tracks and trolley tracks from Phoebus to Buckroe. Due to declining revenue because of competition from Busch Gardens Williamsburg and the developments in air conditioning the amusement park closed in 1985 and was torn down in 1991, however, the

Buckroe Beach Carousel Buckroe Beach Carousel, also known as Philadelphia Toboggan Company Number Fifty and the Hampton Carousel, is a historic carousel operated by the Hampton History Museum in Hampton, Virginia. It was built by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company and ...

and its Bruder

band organ A fairground organ (french: limonaire) is a French pneumatic musical organ covering the wind and percussive sections of an orchestra. Originated in Paris, France, it was designed for use in commercial fairground settings to provide loud music ...

, were preserved and relocated to the downtown Hampton waterfront area where it is a popular attraction. The only remaining relic from the amusement park that is still standing at Buckroe is the functioning lighthouse from the miniature golf course. The popular Buckroe Beach fishing pier was destroyed during

Hurricane Isabel Hurricane Isabel was the strongest Atlantic hurricane since Mitch, and the deadliest, costliest, and most intense hurricane in the 2003 Atlantic hurricane season. Hurricane Isabel was also the strongest hurricane in the open waters of the Atlanti ...

in 2003. The pier was rebuilt by the city of Hampton and opened for business on May 30, 2009. The pier is known for its cobia fishing, which has rivaled with the grandview fishing pier for the most catches. Many fishermen can be found here on a busy summer day. Buckroe Beach was defined as a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

(then termed an unincorporated place) at the

1950 United States Census The United States census of 1950, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 150,697,361, an increase of 14.5 percent over the 131,669,275 persons enumerated during the 1940 census. This was ...

with a population of 1,977.1950 Census of Population
" U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on August 19, 2010. In 1952 Hampton consolidated with Elizabeth City County (including Phoebus) thus making Buckroe Beach a neighborhood of the city.

Attractions

The beach features a large pavilion which regularly has performances. Along with the pavilion there are usually food and ice cream vendors. There is a children's playground with the name "S.S. Buckroe." Added recently are kayak, chair, and umbrella rentals.

Parking

There is an extended parking area that was completed in late 2010. Buckroe Beach is undergoing a revitalization as is supposedly much of the City of Hampton. Information on the Buckroe Master Plan may be found at http://www.hampton.gov

References

{{coord, 37, 02, 35, N, 76, 17, 36, W, type:city_region:US-VA, display=title Neighborhoods in Hampton, Virginia

Beaches of Virginia Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commo ...

Former census-designated places in Virginia Landforms of Hampton, Virginia Articles containing video clips