Chesapeake Bay GatewayOnancock, Virginia is part of the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network, which is administered through the National Park Service. The Gateways are special places where you can experience the authentic Chesapeake Bay.
The Onancock Historic District and Town Wharf offer the general public an enticing range of cultural experiences and Bay-related activities. A tour of 18th century Ker Place, a National Register of Historic Places home and museum; Historic Cokesbury Church, a National Register working church and community center; Commodore Whaley's Grave Site honoring the hero of the last naval battle of the Revolutionary War fought on the Bay; a kayaking interpretive adventure from Onancock Landing on the Captain John Smith Water Trail; live theater and art galleries in the heart of the historic district; or a ferry trip venture to historic Tangier Island in the heart of Chesapeake Bay - these are sample offerings that the Onancock Historic District and Town Wharf provides to the visiting public, all within easy walking access of the town center.
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Explored by Captain John Smith in 1607 and chartered in 1680, Onancock is both rich in history as one of King James' original 12 royal ports in the Colonies and in the unique culture that is the Eastern Shore. Blessed with deep water access to the Chesapeake Bay and its natural safe haven from tempestuous weather, Onancock was for over 250 years the economic trade center of the Eastern Shore, closely tied in maritime commerce to Baltimore and Norfolk. Onancock today remains a working port for watermen and waterborne commerce while offering recreational boaters a unique port of call.
To savor the history of the waterfront, a visit to the Hopkins Brothers Store, a National Register site owned and maintained by the Eastern Shore Historical Society, located at the Town Wharf on Onancock Creek is in order. The Hopkins Brothers Store dates to 1842 and in its lifetime was the center of waterborne trade for the area, the local bank, and the Post Office for the community. The Historical Society maintains displays of the site's tools of the mercantile exchange trade and photographs of the era's activities which visitors have access to view at no charge. In addition to being a waterfront museum, the building houses a restaurant on site open daily to the general public.
A tour of 
For the historian, the Commodore Zedekiah Whaley grave site honors a hero of the last naval battle of the Revolutionary War, the Battle of Kedges Strait. Fought in November 1782, 13 months after the formal surrender of British forces at Yorktown in October 1781, Commodore Whaley was killed in battle and his body interned in Onancock, an action that started a unique thread in U.S. Navy history.
