Norfolk Virginian, April 17, 1889

Untitled

Infrastructure -- Public : TownsMoral -- Alcohol

Onancock.

The booming town on the Eastern Shore of Virginia is Parksley Station, about eight miles from Onancock, on the New York, Philadelphia and Norfolk railroad. The village is the outlet for the products of a large area of country, which extends almost to the seashore. The land is flat and the soil sandy, being especially adapted to the raising of potatoes, which are shipped to the Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, Boston and Providence markets annually in immense quantities.

Five years ago the site upon which the town of Parksley is built was farm land. But in 1884, when the railroad company established a station there for the accommodation of shippers of farm produce, and the natural advantages of the location were such that a town began to grow. This development attracted the attention of some Northern capitalists who purchased large quantities of land around the station at nominal figures and organized the Parksley Land and Improvement Company. Town lots were laid off and sold to settlers to whom inducements were offered. Several storekeepers in other parts of Accomac county removed to Parksley and re-established their business there. Various industries were instituted, and now Parksley has a population of about 200. A large number of houses will be erected there this year. A newspaper and a hotel are to be established. The hotel will be built at a cost of $20,000.

Parksley was so named because a family named Parks formerly occupied the ground upon which the village is built. The residents are booming the town, and mechanics are flocking there for employment.

One of the characteristics of this village is that no one can buy land there unless bonds are signed by him to the effect that the house to be erected upon his lot shall not cost less than $500, and that the house shall not be used for the sale of liquor.