Countywide Architectural Surveys on Virginia’s Eastern Shore
In association with Debra McClane, Architectural Historian, CRA was retained by the Virginia State Historic Preservation Office to complete an architectural survey of Accomack and Northampton counties on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. The survey was part of a series of projects funded through the National Park Service’s Hurricane Sandy Disaster Relief Assistance Grant for Historic Properties. The survey was designed to support disaster mitigation planning for historic properties at the local, county, and regional levels in advance of future severe weather events or other natural disasters.
In designing the survey approach, CRA focused on identifying properties located in flood-prone areas near the coast, properties dating to the early history of the counties that had yet to be captured in inventory records, properties that more comprehensively covered the full geography of the Eastern Shore in Accomack and Northampton counties; and properties that were representative of the counties’ historical and architectural trends. Discussions with local preservation advocates also informed the survey effort. In total, 505 resources representing a broad cross-section of property types and architectural styles dating from the 18th to 20th centuries were recorded across the full geography of the Eastern Shore.
