African Americans and whites respected him, valuing his dedication and leadership. D." Jefferson, possessed an entrepreneurial spirit that gained him customers across the racial divide. Jefferson's proprietor, Taylor Daniel "T. Segregation limited employment opportunities for African Americans, but the railroad and ferry industries provided a means to support families and build lives in Cape Charles.įrequently remembered as Cape Charles' first African American owned and operated grocery store, few credit Jefferson's Store, opened in 1886, as the first establishment of its kind founded by any race. Many African Americans moved to Cape Charles for the sole purpose of working in these industries. Positions with the NYP&N Railroad and the Virginia Ferry Corporation’s Little Creek-Cape Charles Ferry provided higher paid positions for African Americans than other employment outside of the household or the fields. Countless longtime and former African American residents of Cape Charles have a relative who worked for the railroad or the ferry. These transportation industries and, in turn, Cape Charles prospered very quickly, drawing people to live and work in the rapidly growing town. At its prime, the land across from Mason Avenue housed terminuses for both the railroad and the ferry, annually transporting over two million passengers. When the New York, Philadelphia, & Norfolk Railroad (NYP&N) built a terminus here in 1884, business rolled into Cape Charles, creating a nearby “main street” to serve as a commercial hub. It is easy to miss why Mason Avenue became Cape Charles’ focal point from the late nineteenth to early twentieth century. Only a few scattered railroad cars and segmented remains survive of a once expansive railyard. Railroad and Ferry Terminuses at Cape Charles Harbor
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