Cape Henry

Cape Henry from the air, facing east-southeast

Cape Henry is a cape on the Atlantic shore of Virginia in the independent city of Virginia Beach. It is the southern boundary of the entrance to Chesapeake Bay.

Across the mouth of the bay to the north is Cape Charles. Named for sons of King James I of England in 1607, together Cape Henry and Cape Charles form the Virginia Capes.

History

Cape Henry was named in 1607 in honor of Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of King James I of England, by an expedition of the London Company branch of the proprietary Virginia Company headed by Captain Christopher Newport. After an unusually long voyage of 144 days from England, it was their first landfall, an event which has come to be called "The First Landing".

Captain Newport, with his three ships, Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery, and the group of 104 men and boys, subsequently explored inland and established Jamestown which became the first permanent English settlement in North America.

Current features

The Cape Henry Memorial commemorates The First Landing of the settlers that established Jamestown. Nearby, the historic Cape Henry Light was the first in the United States. Also of historical interest, the passenger station built in 1902 and served by the original Norfolk Southern Railway was restored late in the 20th century and is used as an educational facility by Fort Story, an Army base located at Cape Henry. First Landing State Park occupies and protects the rest of the cape itself, as well as some of the nearby area. A locally well known road Shore Dr. has a modern viewing of the rest of the entire shoreline in Cape Henry.

External links

• NPS Cape Henry website
• Cape Henry Lighthouse info