Little Creek Ferry

Little Creek Ferry operated initially by the Virginia Ferry Corporation, a Virginia public service company, was a passenger ferry service across the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay between Little Creek (near Norfolk) and the southwestern edge of the Eastern Shore, also known as the Delmarva Peninsula. Capacity to handle vehicles was added in the 1940s. The service was a link in the Ocean Hiway, a coastal route for motor vehicles. It was acquired by an agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1954, and ceased operations in April, 1964, when it was effectively replaced by the new Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. During its peak, the Little Creek Ferry was operating 90 one-way trips each day with 7 vessels.

Chesapeake Bay Ferry District

In addition to the Little Creek Ferry operated by Virginia Ferry Corporation, the Pennsylvania Railroad also had offered steamer passenger ferry service on the lower Chesapeake Bay between the Eastern Shore and Old Point Comfort (near Hampton) on the Virginia Peninsula, among other points. The railroad had announced discontinuation of the service would take place in 1953.

Largely in response to that, in 1954, by act of the Virginia General Assembly, the Chesapeake Bay Ferry District and a related Commission to oversee it were created, initially with the hopes of restoring that service. However, the governmental agency was soon authorized to sell toll revenue bonds and acquire the private Little Creek Ferry which was still operating and improve existing ferry service. However, the cross-bay service to Old Point Comfort was never restored.

Another automobile-ferry service from Old Point Comfort across Hampton Roads to Willoughby Spit was replaced in 1957 by the new Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, the first bridge-tunnel in Virginia. This stimulated more interest in the feasibility of a similar crossing of the lower Chesapeake Bay.

Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel

A portion of the bond revenue which was used to purchase the Virginia Ferry Corporation was set aside to study study and determine the feasibility of a fixed crossing of the lower bay. It was determined that a bridge-tunnel complex was feasible, and a route between the Eastern Shore and a point in Princess Anne County at Chesapeake Beach (east of Little Creek, west of Lynnhaven Inlet) was selected. In August 1960, the District sold US$200 million toll revenue bonds and work began the following month to build the 17.4 mile-long Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, which opened in early 1964. (By then, Princess Anne County had consolidated with the City of Virginia Beach less than a year earlier). Ferry riders had a ringside seat to the construction for 3 1/2 years.

Ferryboats, disposition

Among the Little Creek ferryboats was the S.S. "Pocahontas" (built in 1941) which reportedly carried a cask containing earth from the grave in England of the legendary Native American Princess Pocahontas. The Commonwealth of Virginia reused the name "Pocahontas" for the newest of the current ferryboats at the Jamestown-Scotland Ferry on the James River

Upon opening of the new bridge-tunnel carrying U.S. Highway 13, the ferry service was no longer needed. On July 1, 1964, many of the surplus ferryboats were utilized to begin the Cape May-Lewes Ferry, a new service which carries U.S. Highway 9 across the Delaware Bay between Cape May, New Jersey and Lewes, Delaware.

External links

* [http://www.cbbt.org Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel]
* [http://www.virginiadot.org/travel/ferry-jamestown.asp Jamestown-Scotland Ferry website]
* [http://www.cmlf.com/ Cape May-Lewes Ferry website]
* [http://www.esva.net/~rwest/ferries.html Cheseapeake Bay Ferries website]