Bay Creek Resort & Club in Cape Charles, Va. has incorporated a number of 19th Century touches that give its property further distinction and added interest. What’s more, the unintended “theme,” accentuated with historical landmarks such as an 1886 Old Plantation Flats Lighthouse replica (on the 2nd hole of the Palmer Course) and a bronze entrance sculpture, “A Father’s Legacy” which portrays the lifestyle of generations of Eastern Shore watermen, gives the Resort some unique bragging rights.
“What’s interesting is that our 19th Century theme was not intended as a tool to create interest in Bay Creek,” says Stevenson. “Rather it was to build the Resort in keeping with the unspoiled nature of the 19th Century town of Cape Charles in which we are located. Our designs were chosen to match those of the town which was built in 1886 and remains pretty much the same today.”
Let There Be Light
In the spring of 2004, in order to honor and preserve the history of Cape Charles and the Eastern Shore, and to create an icon for the future, Baymark Construction and Bay Creek Resort & Club began work on an exact replica of the Old Plantation Flats Light Station.
Although the original design plans were modernized to include electricity, heat and air conditioning, the lumber types and sizes are faithful to the 1886 version. A wooden handrail with intricate banisters surrounds the wrap-around porch. The lantern is timber framed and the lantern deck features a wooden handrail with banisters identical to those on the first level. The storm panels are framed with cast iron mullions, which support the metal roof capped with a brass ventilator ball and a lightning rod. Interior rooms of the lighthouseare finished with tongue and groove beaded cypress, painted white, and brightly varnished heart pine floors. Like the original, the exterior walls are juniper but, in keeping with modern building codes, are lined with a layer of fireproof gypsum. The new Light Station sits on five steel piles, identical in size to the originals, driven to a depth of 30 feet.
The replica is a beacon for the Bay Creek Resort; its light is visible for several miles and its fog bell can be heard throughout the community. Golfers on the Arnold Palmer Signature course use the distant lighthouseas a target from the 1st tee and putt in its shadow on the 2nd green.
Cast Iron History
For generations watermen have been making their living in the waters surrounding the Eastern Shore of Va. Fathers, with sons or daughters by their side, taught not only the traditional skills of their livelihood, but also a way of life that is steeped in strong character and independence.
In the spring of 2004, Mr. Richard S. Foster, owner and developer of Bay Creek Resort & Club, commissioned local artist Thelma J. Peterson to create a concept and design for a life-sized bronze sculpture, which would reflect a traditional lifestyle of the Shore.
Installed at the main entrance to Bay Creek’s golf courses, A Father’s Legacy represents “our local culture of work and enjoyment on the water that has linked many generations of fathers and sons.”
Next Up?
In addition to the lighthouse and sculpture, Bay Creek has an Eastern Shore themed Carousel and is the process of reviving the passenger railroad as well as a 19th century dining car and passenger car. Restoration is nearly complete.
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