Chesapeake

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Chesapeake — also known informally as Chic's Beach or Chick's Beach — is a bayfront neighborhood and beach community situated in the northwest corner of Virginia Beach, Virginia. The area runs along a residential neighborhood on the east and west sides of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel. Distinct from the heavily commercialized Virginia Beach Oceanfront, Chesapeake has long maintained a quieter, residential character shaped by its proximity to the Chesapeake Bay, inland lakes, and the natural environment of coastal Virginia. Despite its bayside beach location, Chesapeake Beach did not develop as a commercial resort area with hotels and other amenities; instead, the community remained primarily residential in character with only a handful of locally owned commercial businesses. Today, the neighborhood attracts residents and visitors seeking calmer waters and a more laid-back version of the Virginia Beach beach lifestyle, and it holds official recognition on both the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places.

History

Centuries before the arrival of English settlers, the Chesapeake Bay area, including the land now known as Virginia Beach, was inhabited by the Chesepian tribe. The name "Chesapeake" itself is thought to originate from the Algonquin language, meaning "Great Shellfish Bay," appropriately named for this region that was teeming with marine life. The Chesepian occupied an area which is now defined as the independent cities of Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, and Virginia Beach.

Virginia Beach's recorded history only began in 1607 with the arrival of English settlers. This journey, led by Captain Christopher Newport, landed them at Cape Henry, located within present-day Virginia Beach. The settlers pressed on, eventually establishing Jamestown as the first permanent New World settlement. Following increased settlement, in 1691 Lower Norfolk County was divided to form Norfolk and Princess Anne counties. The area that would become Chesapeake Beach remained part of Princess Anne County for more than two and a half centuries.

What originated as a lookout post during war, the beach eventually turned to more recreational activities, and the area developed in the early 1900s as a beachfront residential community. The historic district includes parcels that were platted and subdivided between 1910 and 1929; at the time, this area was in Princess Anne County, but it became part of the City of Virginia Beach in 1963 when the county merged with the city.

The neighborhood took its colloquial name from a local institution. A restaurant known as "Chic's" sold items such as limeade and ice cream; eventually, that site became what is now Buoy 44 Restaurant, and the terms "Chic's" and "Chick's Beach" stuck.

Chesapeake Beach was part of Princess Anne County until 1963, when the county and the City of Virginia Beach merged. In the early 1960s, the bayfront neighborhood was effectively cut in half by the construction of the Northampton Boulevard access ramp to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel (CBBT). According to a 1957 study of the proposed route, the project involved the acquisition and removal of around 30 houses and the replacement of the original Chesapeake Beach Volunteer Fire and Rescue Station.

During the 1940s and 1950s, more dwellings were built south and east of Lookout Road, and the historic core was built out as construction continued through the 1960s.

The Chesapeake Beach Historic District

The Chesapeake Beach Historic District, located in the northwest corner of Virginia Beach, is one of the earliest 20th-century bayfront neighborhoods established in what was then Princess Anne County that retains its historical layout and character. The historic district retains its gridded street plan and is one of the last remaining examples of a high-density beach cottage community, making it a rarity among the city's neighborhoods.

Two historic districts in Virginia Beach joined the Virginia Landmarks Register, which honors the historic and cultural significance of a site. The Chesapeake Beach Historic District and the Pleasant Ridge School Historic District are among the most recent additions to the list, according to the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR). With the Chesapeake Beach Historic District being one of the oldest bayside beachfront neighborhoods, it is credited for contributing to the growth of the city of Virginia Beach, or what was then Princess Anne County. The 20th-century beachfront neighborhood's development was shaped by its surrounding natural environment, including the Chesapeake Bay and Pleasure House Lake.

In 2018, the City of Virginia Beach undertook an update to its architectural survey data. That effort included the documentation and evaluation of several mid-century neighborhoods, and through that effort, surveyors identified Chesapeake Beach as a potential National Register of Historic Places historic district.

The Chesapeake Beach Historic District is recommended eligible under Criterion A in the areas of Community Planning and Development. The district is also recommended eligible under Criterion C in the area of Architecture, as an intact collection of early to mid-twentieth-century beach cottages and commercial buildings that reflects vernacular trends with noted influences of nationally popular architectural styles.

The historic district is centered around Lookout Road (formerly Terrace Avenue) and includes properties along the gridded streets of Pleasure Avenue and Lauderdale Road, which run east-to-west, and Fentress Avenue and Seaview Avenue, which extend north-to-south. The topography of the historic district is generally flat, but a broad, natural dune extends across the north side of the neighborhood, rising to a height of about 25 feet above mean sea level. Houses have been constructed on the dune, which historically has protected the area from flooding from the bay.

This designation recognizes the historical significance of the Chesapeake Beach neighborhood as one of the city's oldest early-twentieth century subdivisions and the last of the "old beach" neighborhoods.

Geography and Natural Environment

Chesapeake Beach is a stretch of beaches running about two miles from the Lynnhaven Inlet to just west of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel in Virginia Beach, Virginia. It is a diverse area consisting of beach cottages, condominiums, townhouses, duplexes, apartments, and single-family homes, and the beach community is bordered on the south by Shore Drive.

The natural environment is an important contributor to the district's character and includes the Chesapeake Bay, the sandy bayside beach, the presence of inland lakes, and mature live oak trees. The man-made character of the historic district is enhanced and influenced by the natural environment and nearby bodies of water, including the Chesapeake Bay and Pleasure House Lake, which influenced the location and physical layout of the community.

Adjacent to the neighborhood, the Pleasure House Point Natural Area provides one of the most significant undisturbed coastal parcels remaining in the city. Located just west of the Lesner Bridge and south of the Chesapeake Bay, Pleasure House Point Natural Area is 118 acres of water, tidal marsh, sandy shores, and maritime forest. The tidal wetlands of the property provide a habitat for the iconic Chesapeake Bay blue crab, diamondback terrapin, and the Lynnhaven oyster, and act as nurseries for mollusks, crabs, and fish. This high-profile property was once being considered for a large waterfront development, but with the help of The Trust for Public Land, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and the surrounding community, the City has preserved one of the largest undeveloped parcels of land on the Lynnhaven River for generations to come.

Given its location near the mouth of the Lynnhaven River and Chesapeake Bay, Pleasure House Point is alive with bird life. This 122-acre mix of beach, wetlands, marsh, old-growth maritime forest, and shallow-water habitat provides breeding, migrating, and wintering habitat important to the future of several species.

Adjacent to the natural area, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Brock Environmental Center, located at Pleasure House Point in Virginia Beach, is one of the most energy efficient, environmentally smart buildings in the world.

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel

One of the defining landmarks of the Chesapeake neighborhood — and of Virginia Beach as a whole — is the Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel (CBBT), which begins its crossing just east of the community. The CBBT connects the Virginia mainland at the city of Virginia Beach directly with the Delmarva Peninsula. Completed in 1964 and recognized by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1965 as one of the "Seven Engineering Wonders of the Modern World," the structure is comprised of bridges, tunnels, and land roads that span a total of twenty-three miles.

Starting in the early 1930s, the only way to get from the Norfolk/Virginia Beach area to Virginia's Eastern Shore was via private ferry service. As the ferry service became increasingly busy with passengers, the need for a faster, fixed crossing became apparent. Using revenue from bonds, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel construction began in late 1960, and 42 months later, the Bridge–Tunnel opened to traffic in April 1964.

Prior to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel, travelers had two options to navigate between Tidewater Virginia and the Eastern Shore: take a ferry across the Chesapeake Bay or take a circuitous seven-hour drive up, over and down. With 12 miles of bridges and two one-mile-long tunnels, the CBBT is one of only 14 bridge–tunnel systems in the world and one of three in both Hampton Roads and the United States.

It carries US 13, which saves motorists roughly 95 miles and an hour and a half on trips between Hampton Roads and the Delaware Valley and points north compared with other routes through the Washington–Baltimore Metropolitan Area. At a cost of $197 million contracted to various construction firms, a parallel bridge and renovation project was completed and the roadway reopened on April 19, 1999.

As noted in the planning history of the Chesapeake Beach neighborhood, the construction of the CBBT's Northampton Boulevard access ramp in the early 1960s physically divided the original community, requiring the demolition of dozens of homes. The structure has nonetheless become a signature feature of the local landscape and serves as both a transportation artery and a scenic backdrop for the Chesapeake Beach shoreline.

Recreation and Community Life

For beachgoers looking for a kinder, gentler ocean, refuge can be found along the calm waters of the Chesapeake Bay. From swimming to sand castles to volleyball, all the traditional beach rituals are here. The neighborhood's calmer bay-side waters attract families and casual visitors who prefer a more tranquil beach experience compared to the Atlantic-facing oceanfront.

Shore Drive is the main roadway that outlines Chic's Beach and leads directly to the Virginia Beach Oceanfront. Shore Drive is a location of many biking, hiking, and jogging trails at First Landing State Park, as well as shopping and dining spots. The Little Creek Naval Base lines the west side of the Chic's Beach community.

Key species for the Chesapeake Bay include blue crab, eastern oysters, striped bass (also called rockfish), and Atlantic menhaden, a small, nutrient-packed fish that are vitally important to the Chesapeake Bay's food chain. In addition to more than 350 varieties of fish living in the bay waters, different types of birds inhabit the bay throughout the year, from bald eagles and ospreys to waterfowl like ducks and swans and migratory birds such as sanderlings and ruby-throated hummingbirds. These ecological riches make the Chesapeake Beach area a destination for fishing, kayaking, and wildlife observation year-round.

The neighborhoods of Baylake Pines and Baylake Beach hug the east side of the community, although the popularity of the Chick's Beach area has those in Ocean Park claiming a piece of it as well. The community maintains an active civic identity, with the Chesapeake Beach Civic League having been established as early as 1942.

See Also

• Virginia Beach
• Shore Drive
• First Landing State Park
• Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel
• Pleasure House Point Natural Area
• Princess Anne County