The Bridge-Tunnel project is a four-lane 20-mile-long vehicular toll crossing of the lower Chesapeake Bay. The facility carries US 13, the main north-south highway on Virginia's Eastern Shore, and provides the only direct link between Virginia's Eastern Shore and south Hampton Roads, Virginia.The crossing consists of a series of low-level trestles interrupted by two approximately one-mile-long tunnels beneath Thimble Shoals and Chesapeake navigation channels.The manmade islands, each approximately 5.25 acres in size, are located at each end of the two tunnels. There are also high level bridges over two other navigation channels: North Channel Bridge and Fisherman Inlet Bridge. Finally, between North Channel and Fisherman Inlet, the facility crosses at-grade over Fisherman Island, a barrier island which includes the Fisherman Island National Wildlife Refuge administered by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Toll collection facilities are located at each end of the facility.(Source: http://www.cbbt.com/facts.html)
The town of Berlin had its start around the 1790s, part of the Burley Plantation, a 300-acre (1.2 km2) land grant dating back to 1677. The name Berlin is believed to be derived from a contraction of "Burleigh Inn", a tavern located at the crossroads of the Philadelphia Post Road (now South Main Street) and Sinepuxent Road (Tripoli Street).
Berlin incorporated as a town in 1868. In the early 20th century, Berlin was known as a rest stop for travelers on their way to the coastal resort of Ocean City as well as a stop for tourists who enjoyed hunting and fishing on the lower Eastern Shore of Maryland.
Since the late 1980s the town has undergone considerable revitalization of its historic downtown commercial district and adjacent residential areas. Berlin's historic residential areas feature nearly two centuries of architectural heritage from the from three distinct periods: Federal, Victorian, and 20th Century. 47 of these structures have been noted in the National Register of Historic Places as well as the historic commercial district. Berlin has also been designated as a "Main Street Community" by the State of Maryland in recognition of its revitalization progress.
(Source: Wikipedia)
Established by the Virginia Company of London as "James Fort" on May 14, 1607, it was the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States. It would serve as capital of the colony for 83 years (from 1616 until 1699).
Late in 1606, English entrepreneurs set sail with a charter from the Virginia Company of London to establish a colony in the New World. After a particularly long voyage of five months duration including stops in Puerto Rico, they finally departed for the American mainland on April 10, 1607. The three ships, named Susan Constant, Discovery, and Godspeed, under Captain Christopher Newport, made landfall on April 26, 1607 at a place they named Cape Henry.
On May 14, 1607, Captain Edward Maria Wingfield, elected president of the governing council on April 25, selected a piece of land on a large peninsula, some 40 miles (64 km) inland from the Atlantic Ocean, as a prime location for a fortified settlement. The Peninsula was surrounded by the York river in the north, the James river in the south and the Chesapeake bay in the east of the peninsula. The piece of land had deep water, making it a navigable and defensible strategic point.
(Source: Wikipedia)
