Program

Historic Transportation

Subject

Site, Transportation

Location

3289 6th St, Exmore, VA 23350, USA

Lat/Long

37.53086, -75.821038

Grant Recipient

Town of Exmore

The New York, Philadelphia & Norfolk Railroad ran from Delmar, Maryland south to Cape Charles, Virginia on the Chesapeake Bay. At Cape Charles, a train ferry was available to transport freight and passenger train cars across the Chesapeake Bay to Norfolk, Virginia. The new line allowed for a significantly shorter connection between Norfolk and New York City. Upon its opening, the November 4, 1884 Wilmington Morning Star reported that the line “traverses a country rich in farm products” and allows for the journey north to New York City to be made in approximately 10 hours. This shaved a substantial amount of time off the previous 17 hours it would have taken to make the trip. The railroad was used to ship local goods, farm products, and seafood such as fish and oysters to northern markets, including Philadelphia and New York City.

The railroad transformed isolated rural communities along the eastern shore that were previously mainly dependent on water transport, into prosperous farming and fishing communities. It provided a means of rapid transportation for farm products and seafood to once distant markets. Exmore in Northampton County, Virginia was one such community that benefited greatly from the new railroad, having a station established along the line.

The New York, Philadelphia & Norfolk Railroad was eventually acquired by the Pennsylvania Railroad, operating as part of its Norfolk Division, and later its Delmarva Division. By 2006, the portion of the former New York, Philadelphia & Norfolk Railroad running through Northampton County was operating as the Bay Coast Railroad. In 2018, the line was finally closed.

As of 2025, there are local efforts to develop a rail trail along the former tracks through Exmore. The community has worked to preserve a wood framed, one story passenger station, which was relocated from Belle Haven, Virginia in the early 1990s after the station building in Exmore burned down. In addition to the station, portions of the former passenger platform remain in Exmore, serving as a reminder of this transformative piece of transportation history.