Harrison Phoebus

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Harrison Phoebus of Maryland was the namesake for the Town of Phoebus in Elizabeth City County near Fort Monroe which is now part of the independent city of Hampton, Virginia.

A former Union soldier during the American Civil War, Harrison Phoebus moved to Virginia in 1866 and became an agent for the Adams Express Co.

Over time, he acquired property, including the luxurious 1000-room Hygeia Hotel, which predated the Hotel Chamberlin at Old Point Comfort. Phoebus built additions to his hotel, chartered boats to bring visitors, and soon Old Point Confort was on its way to becoming a place where diplomats and Government officials mingled with the elite of Baltimore, Philadelphia, Richmond, and the Deep South.

Harrison Phoebus is credited with persuading Collis Huntington's Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad to extend its tracks from Newport News to the community. The railroad named its station and post office after him, and in 1901, the Town of Phoebus itself was renamed in his honor.

[edit] References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.