BY STEFANIE JACKSON BOWMANN, Eastern Shore Post —
A Northampton County historical group is leading efforts to establish a local historical marker program ahead of Virginia’s commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution.
Cara Burton, chair of the Northampton County VA250 Local Commission, asked Northampton supervisors for their support in the matter on Tuesday, Aug. 13.
The local commission, aka Northampton250, recently produced a self-guided driving tour of historical locations in Northampton County, which begins at the visitors center at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel and ends in Willis Wharf.
Northampton250 then set its sights on expanding the number of historical
markers along county roads, but it discovered that the Virginia Department of Historic Resources has a backlog of applications for the state-issued markers.
On the advice of DHR, the commissioners sought to establish a local historical marker program, as permitted by Virginia Code.
Northampton250 received a Northampton County Tourism grant to help fund the program and will pursue a match from the Virginia Tourism Corporation’s Virginia 250 program, Burton said. The commission is not seeking county funding.
The top three historical marker suggestions that DHR said it most likely would have approved are:
- The Rev. Thomas Nelson Baker Sr., who was born in Eastville in 1860 and was the first African American to receive a doctorate in philosophy. The location of this marker is to be determined.
- Hungars Church and Shorter’s Chapel, two historic churches in Bridgetown. The intended location of this marker is on Bayside Road.
- The Northampton Protest of 1652, which involved Eastern Shore residents who were required to pay taxes yet were denied representation in the Virginia House of Burgesses. The intended location of this marker is on Bayside Road, near Weirwood.
Other suggested historical marker topics and locations include the Bethel AME Church, Eastville; the farm where an enslaved woman taught herself to read, to be determined; the
Golden Quarter, lower Northampton County, on the seaside; the Upshur Plantation, Brownsville; the Legendary Giddens Do-Drop-Inn, Franktown; the Quaker meeting house, Franktown; and Cushman’s Landing, on the seaside.
Supervisor John Coker suggested also placing a marker in Cape Charles, at the site of the former rail yard.
Burton said that historical markers could be placed in strategic locations to promote Northampton County tourism, such as on the Eastern Shore rail trail, on nature trails, at wharves, in public parks, and in towns.
She noted that many of the state historical markers are on U.S. Route 13 and other busy roads, where drivers speed past and miss the signs.
Northampton Board of Supervisors Chair Betsy Mapp said, “I think it’s a great idea to put some markers on the rail trail because the people will be going slow enough that they can read them.”
The supervisors voted unanimously to authorize Northampton250 to draft a policy for the local historical marker program.
