Virginia Ferry Corporation - Virginia 1935

Beautifully engraved certificate from the Virginia Ferry Corporation issued in 1935. This historic document has an ornate border around it with a vignette of an eagle. This item is hand signed by the Company's President and Secretary and is over 70 years old. The certificate was issued to the Delaware New Jersey Ferry Company.






Certificate Vignette

Virginia and the Chesapeake Bay region have a rich maritime heritage. Captain John Smith is said to have explored the lower Chesapeake Bay including Tangier Island and the lower part of the Eastern Shore of Virginia in 1608. Since that time, ships of all types have plied the hundreds of inlets, rivers and creeks of the Bay. Probably the most famous and largest of these were the ferries that were owned and operated by the Virginia Ferry Corporation and carried passengers and cars from Cape Charles and Kiptopeke Beach on the lower end of the Eastern Shore to Little Creek, Va located near Cape Henry, Va. Steamers were operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad to ferry freight and passengers between Baltimore, Md and Hampton Roads where trains would then provide the fastest means of moving between cities in the north and south. Prior to the 1940's, the only way for cars and trucks to reach Hampton Roads from the Eastern Shore was to go north through Maryland and then down the western shore of Virginia, a trip that would take two or three days. Following World War II, the Virginia Ferry Corporation began purchasing vessels that could be used to carry both passengers and vehicles across the 20 miles of open water at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. A total of seven ferries were built or purchased from the government and provided a valuable service to the people of the Eastern Shore of Virginia during the 1950's and 60's. The opening of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel in 1964 brought an end to the use of the ferries across the Chesapeake Bay. Some of the Virginia ferries were later used by the State of Delaware for the crossing between Cape May, N.J. and Lewis, Del. and remained in service until recently replaced by more modern vessels. A few of the smaller ferries ended their days as powered barges until they were deemed useless and were sold for scrap.