THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 3, 1995 TAG: 9505030432
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY GUY FRIDDELL, LANDMARK SPECIAL WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 92 lines
Seashore State Park, one of the state's oldest, got a new name Tuesday: First Landing State Park.
The Virginia Board of Conservation and Recreation, led by Chairman W. Bruce Wingo, approved the change unanimously, and department director H. Kirby Burch authorized it.
Until the public and the travel industry adjust to the new name during a transition, it will be called First Landing/Seashore State Park.
The renaming of the 60-year-old park realizes a long-deferred dream of the Order of Cape Henry 1607 to underscore the park's historical significance.
Some 100 English settlers in three ships arrived on April 26, 1607, at what is now Virginia Beach and moved up the James River in May to establish at Jamestown the first permanent English settlement in America.
On April 26, a large party from the colonists landed near Cape Henry. On the ship that night they opened orders of the Virginia Company.
The instructions named seven council members who would elect a governor, the first step in English America for an elective government, Burch observed.
``It was the foundation stone for the nation,'' he said. ``It's a made-to-order dream for a park system.''
``That's good news!'' exclaimed Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf on hearing of the action the board took at its meeting Tuesday at False Cape State Park.
``It makes sense to define in the name the historic landing with which our nation began,'' Oberndorf said.
Fred Hazelwood, the park's manager, said that focusing on the historical perspective would draw additional tourists among those already aware of its natural charm.
``The first settlers landed here because of the area's abundant natural resources, which is precisely what makes it the most popular park in the system,'' he said.
Because of the park's nearly pristine state, visitors today see it much as the settlers found it, with dogwood and redbud blooming and wild strawberries underfoot, said Roy Dudley, president of the Order of Cape Henry.
The voyagers had spent most of five months in three tiny ships, the longest of which was 75 feet. One adventurer, George Percy, wrote that they were ``almost ravished at the first sight'' of the new land.
That first day's landing party had an encounter with Indians as they returned to the ships. Two settlers were wounded.
Exploring parties went ashore two more days, and a still larger group erected a cross on April 29, claimed the new land for James I and named the capes for his sons, Henry and Charles.
A granite cross built behind the sand dunes within Fort Story commemorates the first landing. (Fort Story is on park land ceded by the state to the federal government for use during World War II.)
The park's annual attendance of 1.2 million visitors accounts for 35 percent of the total for all of Virginia's state parks, Hazelwood noted.
Joe Elton, director of state parks, said that more than a decade ago sentiment began mounting for the name change. Its chief advocates were R.K.T Larson, a former managing editor of The Virginian-Pilot, and Alexander Grice III of Norfolk, a former president of the Order of Cape Henry.
It peaked last year when Grice, Dudley, Marshall Butt of Portsmouth, a past president, and Elizabeth Wingo, a director of the Order, urged the board to change the name.
Grice presented endorsements from historians Alf Mapp Jr., James Bugg and Parke Rouse Jr. and former Rep. G. William Whitehurst.
State Sen. Kenneth Stolle of Virginia Beach wrote that ``the importance of recognizing the historical significance of that area outweighs any inconvenience that the change of the name might create.''
State Sen. Clarence Holland of Virginia Beach said he was pleased that the new name conveyed the park's historical importance and that it would be phased gradually into use.
The new name, said Sen. Stanley Walker of Norfolk, ``gives full meaning to what took place at Cape Henry 13 years before the Pilgrims set foot at Plymouth Rock.''
Tom Ackiss, chairman of the Historical Review Board, said it had considered the new name informally some time ago and most of its members supported the change.
``After all, Seashore State Park is a generic name that could be applied to any stretch of park land on either coast,'' he said. ``Philosophically, I like place names that tell a story and point out the significance of a place, and this goes a long way toward doing that.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos by BETH BERGMAN, Staff
While it is hoped that a new name will attract even more
history-conscious folks to the park's pristine environs, a dog and
its owner are satisfied with its present-day attractions.
Photo of sign with previous name and new name
KEYWORDS: SEASHORE STATE PARK NAME CHANGE FIRST LANDING STATE PARK by CNB