Wachapreague Historic District named to Virginia Landmarks Register
12/18/2025
Shore Daily News Headlines
Virginia has added eight new sites to the Virginia Landmarks Register, recognizing places across the Commonwealth for their historic, architectural, and cultural significance, including a historic district on the Eastern Shore.
The Commonwealth’s Board of Historic Resources approved the designations during its quarterly public meeting on December 11 in Richmond. The Virginia Landmarks Register is the state’s official list of properties deemed important to Virginia’s history and heritage.
Among the newly designated sites is the Wachapreague Historic District. Encompassing 96 acres, the district includes the waterfront town of Wachapreague, which developed from the late 19th through the early 20th centuries as a destination for hunting and fishing and as a commercial hub with access to the Wachapreague Channel and the Atlantic Ocean.
The district features a concentration of residential and commercial buildings constructed in vernacular, Folk Victorian, and other architectural styles common to the Eastern Shore during the town’s period of growth. While Wachapreague’s population declined beginning in the 1960s, the town continues to attract visitors from across Virginia and beyond.
Other sites approved for listing include properties in Arlington, Bath, Frederick, Loudoun, and Pittsylvania counties; the city of Petersburg; and the town of Mount Jackson in Shenandoah County. Collectively, the new landmarks highlight a diverse range of resources, from a 20th-century airfield built for early commercial air travelers to a mill dam and mill pond complex that once served as a recreational and social center in Southwest Virginia.
The Virginia Department of Historic Resources will forward documentation for the newly listed sites to the National Park Service for consideration for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.
State and national register listings are honorary and do not place restrictions on private property owners. Instead, the designations are intended to encourage public understanding of Virginia’s historic places and provide property owners with the opportunity to pursue historic rehabilitation tax credits. Any tax credit projects must comply with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation.