By William “Skip” Deegans
A notice in the Greenbrier Independent in 1899 that listed the fare on the C&O Railroad at $7.00 from Ronceverte to Old Point Comfort, Virginia on the Chesapeake Bay would have been luring. There, a guest could stay at the luxurious six-story Chamberlin Hotel (shown) that was built in 1894 by John F. Chamberlin, a former Mississippi River boat gambler and Washington, DC, restauranteur. Collis P. Huntington, developer of the C&O, had extended the eastern end of the C&O tracks from the coal docks in Newport News to Old Point Comfort.
The Chamberlin replaced the Hygeia Hotel that was built in 1822 and was one of the best known hotels in America. It could accommodate 1,000 guests, had 500 employees and boasted the country’s largest ballroom. It was at this hotel that Edgar Allen Poe, it is thought, penned “Annabel Lee’ and gave his last public reading on the hotel’s veranda just before he died at age 40. The first Hygeia and a second Hygeia were both closed as the Fort Monroe army facility expanded.
The original Chamberlin was destroyed by fire in 1920 while all employees and 400 guests escaped unharmed. Construction of the present Chamberlin was financed by the Vanderbilt family and completed in 1928. Designed in the Georgian style, the nine-story hotel was the only resort on the Chesapeake Bay.
In 1960, the C&O discontinued its line to the Chamberlin and a steamship wharf was demolished. Business declined, and the hotel closed after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
It reopened in 2008 as a retirement home.
Long before Old Point Comfort became a resort destination, it was the site of one of the most consequential events in American history. In 1619, the White Lion, an English pirate ship, landed there with 20 Africans from Angola who had been captured by the pirates on a ship bound for Mexico. The Captain traded the Africans for food and supplies, and the Governor of Virginia took the Africans into servitude. These were the first slaves in America.
Sources: Greenbrier Independent, National Park Service, The Guardian, Daily Press.
