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Phoebus (known as Chesapeake City from 1871–1899) is a formerly
incorporated town An incorporated town is a town that is a municipal corporation. Canada Incorporated towns are a form of local government in Canada, which is a responsibility of provincial rather than federal government. United States An incorporated town o ...
now part of the present-day city of
Hampton, Virginia Hampton is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 137,148 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, seve ...
, on the Virginia Peninsula. In 1900, it was named in honor of local businessman Harrison Phoebus (1840–1886), who is credited with convincing the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) to extend its tracks to the town from Newport News. The town was consolidated by a slim margin during a 1952 public referendum with 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 ...
of Hampton. Phoebus is now an important historic neighborhood of Hampton and is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
.


History

Captain John Smith landed on a part of Phoebus known as Strawberry Banks on his first voyage up the
James River The James River is a river in Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows from the confluence of the Cowpasture and Jackson Rivers in Botetourt County U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowli ...
in 1607. The area which became the Town of Phoebus was founded in 1609 as Mill Creek; it was located on the banks of 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 parts of the Ea ...
and
Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond, and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's Point near whe ...
, directly across from Norfolk's Willoughby Spit. Mill Creek was located in Elizabeth Cittie ic one of four corporations, termed "citties" ic which were designated in 1619 by the Virginia Company of London, proprietor of the colony, to encompass the developed areas. (The other three were James Cittie, Charles Cittie, and Henrico Cittie). In 1634, the area became part of
Elizabeth City Shire Elizabeth City Shire was one of eight Shires of Virginia, shires created in Colony of Virginia, colonial Virginia in 1634. The shire and the Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth River were named for Elizabeth of Bohemia, daughter of King James I ...
, one of the eight original shires of Virginia. It became Elizabeth City County in 1643. English colonists soon built defensive fortifications at Old Point Comfort to protect the entrance to Hampton Roads. In 1819 the United States Army began construction there of Fort Monroe, which until 2011 was the oldest active-duty fort in the nation. During the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
, numerous slaves escaped to Fort Monroe and Norfolk, which was occupied by Union forces from 1861. The US Army defined them as
contraband Contraband (from Medieval French ''contrebande'' "smuggling") is any item that, relating to its nature, is illegal to be possessed or sold. It comprises goods that by their nature are considered too dangerous or offensive in the eyes of the leg ...
, to prevent their being returned to slaveholders. They established facilities for the newly free slaves at the Fort Monroe Contraband Camp, located outside the fort. Officials contacted a respected local teacher, Mary S. Peake, and asked her to teach the freedmen and their children. She began by gathering people outside in Phoebus, under a large oak tree. This is where the Emancipation Proclamation was read to numerous citizens in 1863, and it became called the Emancipation Oak. The American Missionary Association (AMA), whose leaders included both black and white ministers, hired her to teach and arranged for her to use the Brown Cottage. This is considered the historic start of Hampton University, a
historically black college Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of serving African Americans. Most are in the Southern U ...
(HBCU) which the AMA founded during the war. Much of the Town of Phoebus was cultivated as Roseland Farm until 1871. It was then divided into lots for sale and developed as Chesapeake City. The streets were named after prominent citizens: Mallory, Curry, Hope, Lancer, and Mellen. When the town was incorporated in 1900, its name was changed to Phoebus in honor of its leading citizen, Harrison Phoebus, who is largely credited with getting the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) to build the Hampton Branch. After the railroad's Peninsula Extension reached the new
coal pier A coal pier is a transloading facility designed for the transfer of coal between rail and ship. The typical facility for loading ships consists of a holding area and a system of conveyors for transferring the coal to dockside and loading it into ...
at Newport News in late 1881, the same construction crews were put to work on what would later be called the Peninsula Subdivision's Hampton Branch. From the main line at Old Point Junction, tracks were extended easterly a distance of about toward Fort Monroe. The tracks were completed about to the town, which became Phoebus in December 1882. A passenger and freight station was opened, which the railroad designated as "Phoebus". From Phoebus, an extension across Mill Creek to reach Fort Monroe required a trestle, not completed until 1890. At that time, passenger and freight facilities were also added. At Fort Monroe, the U.S. Army built connecting tracks and operated its own locomotive for a number of years. The station at Fort Monroe closed in 1939. Accordingly, the Chesapeake & Ohio moved its Zero Mile Post north from Old Point Comfort to Phoebus, meaning that the town became the origin point for the C&O's trains such as the '' Sportsman'' bound for Cincinnati and Detroit, the ''
George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...
,'' as well as other trains due west. At Old Point Comfort, in addition to the Army base at Fort Monroe, the Hampton Branch served both the older Hygeia Hotel and the new Hotel Chamberlin, popular destinations for civilians. During the first half of the 20th century, excursion trains were operated to reach nearby Buckroe Beach, where an
amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...
was among the attractions that brought church groups and vacationers. In 1952 by voter referendum, the residents of Elizabeth City County and the town of Phoebus agreed to consolidation with the independent city of Hampton, Virginia. Between 1953 and 1954, the C&O stopped using Phoebus as the terminus of its Norfolk/Hampton Roads area passenger trains. The company shifted that terminus, by then being for the ''George Washington'' and the ''Sportsman'' to Newport News station.


Recent decades

Phoebus has an area listed as an historic district on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
. The Phoebus National Historic District is a section of Phoebus which encompasses the historic business area on Mellen and Mallory Streets and a significant number of homes.


Notable people

* Ralph Wolfe Cowan (1931–2018), artist * John William "Uncle Jack" Dey (1912–1978), noted and celebrated folk painter * Christopher C. Kraft Jr. (1924–2019), the original Flight Director for NASA, was born and raised in Phoebus. * Mary S. Peake (1823–1862), first teacher of freedmen and their children in Phoebus * William T. Randall, (1915–2013), Negro league baseball player * George R. E. Shell, (1908–1996), Ninth superintendent of Virginia Military Institute, Brigadier general in the United States Marine Corps


See also

* Fort Algernon * Kecoughtan, Virginia * Old Point Comfort * Former counties, cities, and towns of Virginia * List of former United States counties


References


External links


Phoebus community website

Phoebus official website




* {{authority control Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Former municipalities in Virginia Phoebus Phoebus Neighborhoods in Hampton, Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Hampton, Virginia