A well attended 2019 Holiday Dinner and Annual Meeting was held December 4th at the Mimosa Barn in Cape Charles. Mr. Bo Lusk, a Coastal Scientist at The Nature Conservancy's Virginia Coast Reserve was the featured speaker. Mr. Lusk's main focus is on marine habitat restoration in the seaside lagoons, restoring oyster reefs, seagrass meadows and the bay scallops. Mr. Lusk, who grew up on Cherrystone Creek and graduated from the University of Virginia with an Environmental Science Degree, discussed how history, science and restoration have come together in Northampton County.

One hundred years ago, the shallow bays of the Eastern Shore's seaside were covered by seagrass that provided food and shelter for a variety of marine life, including scallops which were harvested by Eastern Shore fishermen. Due to a combination of factors, the habitat of the scallops was destroyed. In the mid 1990's, scientists discovered a small patch of native eelgrass behind Wreck Island. Scientists for the Nature Conservancy, working in cooperation with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, developed a method for restoring this lost habitat to the shallow bays of our seaside. Over the last several years, progress has been made and now there are over 700 acres of natural eelgrass beds on the seaside. Researchers world-wide have come to the Eastern Shore to see what is being done.

Northampton Historic Preservation Society's 2018 Annual Meeting/Holiday Dinner Featuring Dennis Custis

The NHPS Holiday Dinner and Annual Meeting was held at The Oyster Farm at Kings Creek on December 5th. In addition to the annual meeting and the election of the officers/board, Dennis Custis was on hand to provide stories about the history of the fascinating people of Northampton County.

Mr. Custis explained how many of the county's residents have contributed to county, state and country. He is a teacher of multiple generations on the Virginia Eastern Shore and one of it's top historians.

The NHPS Annual Membership Meeting and Holiday Dinner was held on December 6th at The Oyster Farm at Kings Creek. An annual meeting highlight was guest speaker Dr. Bill Kelso, the world renowned Director of Archaeology at Historic Jamestowne. Dr. Kelso’s well known archaeological projects at Jamestown, Monticello, and his earlier work at Pear Valley and Arlington Plantation, have made him a popular figure in Northampton County and Virginia. In 1993, he was named Director of Archaeology for Preservation Virginia’s Jamestown Rediscovery Project where he set to work immediately to find the exact location of the original fort of the Jamestown colonists on the James River.

By the end of 1996, he had uncovered evidence of palisades and the foundations of other structures that confirmed the identity of the fort. Since then, Dr. Kelso’s work has continued in Jamestown with the excavations of numerous additional buildings, including the settlement’s first church and the burial place of four Jamestown leaders, and the governor’s rowhouse during the term of Samuel Argall. Over two million objects have been found and catalogued. These objects reflect the lives and trials of the early English settlers. They reveal stories of hope, determination, desperation, and sometimes cruelty. Dr. Kelso is the author of numerous books on American archaeological projects, including his latest book, Jamestown, The Truth Revealed (May 2017).

On December 14th, the membership of the NHPS met at the yearly meeting portion of the Holiday Dinner at the Historic Eastville Inn in Eastville, VA. At this meeting, the slate of Officers and Board Members were elected for 2017.

Kellee Green Blake, retired director of the National Archives-Mid Atlantic Region in Philadelphia was the featured speaker for the program. Over a 25-year coast to coast career with the National Archives, Kellee administered the treasures of our nation, including the papers of Abraham Lincoln, the confiscation of Arlington House, the Nixon pardon, and the Robert F. Kennedy Assassination Files. Now a popular speaker and writer, she authored two plays and is currently writing a book about the Virginia Eastern Shore during the Civil War.

Kellee provided an extensive presentation and slide show about the Civil War and how it impacted Northampton residents. The role of many of the families and historic properties in the County were addressed, including the Eastville Inn, and the personalities and actions of the soldiers representing both sides were revealed in great detail.