Phoebus, Virginia
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Phoebus Historic District
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Historic Phoebus in 2013, viewed from East Mellen Street
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| Location | Roughly bounded by VA 64, Mallory St., E. County St. and Willard Ave., Hampton, Virginia |
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| Coordinates | 37°01′18″N 76°19′05″W / 37.02167°N 76.31806°WCoordinates: 37°01′18″N 76°19′05″W / 37.02167°N 76.31806°W |
| Area | 86 acres (35 ha) |
| Built | 1874 |
| Architect | Holtzclaw, Charles Taylor; Wenderoth, Oscar |
| Architectural style | Late Victorian, Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals |
| NRHP Reference # | 06001098 |
| VLR # | 114-5002 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | December 1, 2006 |
| Designated VLR | September 6, 2006 |
Phoebus (formerly Chesapeake City) was an incorporated town located in Elizabeth City County on the Virginia Peninsula in eastern Virginia. Upon incorporation in 1900, it was named in honor of local businessman Harrison Phoebus (1840–1886), who is credited with convincing the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) to extend its tracks to the town from Newport News.
The town and county are both extinct, as they were consolidated by mutual consent with the independent city of Hampton in 1952, and adopted the latter's name. Phoebus is now an important historic neighborhood of Hampton and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Captain John Smith landed on a part of Phoebus known as Strawberry Banks on his first voyage up the James River in 1607. The area which became the Town of Phoebus was founded in 1609 as Mill Creek; it was located on the banks of the Chesapeake Bay and Hampton Roads, directly across from Norfolk's Willoughby Spit.
Mill Creek was located in Elizabeth Cittie [sic], one of four corporations, termed "citties" [sic], which were designated in 1619 by the Virginia Company of London, proprietor of the colony, to encompass the developed areas. (The other three were James Cittie, Charles Cittie, and Henrico Cittie). In 1634, the area became part of Elizabeth City Shire, one of the eight original shires of Virginia. Elizabeth City County was formed in 1643.
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