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Bridge-Tunnel donates items to Cape Charles museum

CAPE CHARLES -- The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel recently loaned and donated some historical memorabilia to the Cape Charles Historical Society for display in the Cape Charles Museum and Welcome Center.

Included among the items is a huge early 1960s model of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. Weighing almost 500 pounds, this large display traveled up and down the East Coast in the early 1960s and was exhibited in banks, city halls and touring centers to explain not only design and construction features, but also the special significance of the "man-made wonder" to travelers on the East Coast as it would cut one and a half hours off the driving time from Philadelphia to the Hampton Roads area.

Also on display is a 14-foot boat hook used to catch the large ropes to land the Chesapeake Bay ferries at the docks in Kiptopeke and Little Creek. Other donated memorabilia include early photographs of the Bridge-Tunnel and the people who made it happen.

A major element of Cape Charles history is the history of crossing the Bay, from log canoes, sailing ships, steamers, ferries, tugs and barges and finally the Bridge-Tunnel. Visitors can explore this history at the museum through large ship and rail models, binders of archival photos and mounted displays. Materials include photographs and engineering data on the tunnel and bridge construction, a variety of postcards and opening day ceremony memorabilia drawn from the Museum archives.

The Cape Charles Museum and Welcome Center is located in the Town of Cape Charles in an old power plant where one of the original engine-generators remains on permanent exhibit and runs in demo mode.

Opened in 1996, it is dedicated to preserving and presenting to the public the history of Cape Charles and its surrounding areas. The museum is open to the public from mid-April through November on weekdays from 10 a.m.- 2 p.m.; Saturdays from 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; and Sundays from 1 p.m.-5 p.m.

This article came from the delmarva.now website