Port Royal flourishes with new antique shops

Museums, fishing pier, live music add to boom

“It’s coming along!” said Port Royal mayor Nancy Long.

Her quaint 18th century town is indeed blossoming as new entrepreneurs, led by Bob and Linda Green, develop new businesses.

The centerpiece of these is Port Royal Trading Post Antiques, which opened Black Friday. Owned by the Greens, it’s located on Route 301 in the southern part of town.

With its soaring ceilings, colorful décor, museum-like displays and a vast collection of vintage antique curiosities, it’s indeed an astounding place to visit and shop.

There’s even a 1924 Brockway fire engine inside. The Trading Post was formerly a long-deserted Chrysler dealership. “It’s nice to see it brought back to life!” said Long. “Deserted buildings don’t make any money!”

Her enthusiasm is infectious as she leads the way through the Trading Post. She describes it as “whimsical and fascinating.”

A short way up from the Trading Post, another deserted building is about to be restored. This is an old motel, vacant for the past several years, now being renovated as Memory Lane Antiques and Collectibles. The entrepreneur here is Nicky Sheridan.

Then down on Route 17 on the southern edge of town, an old abandoned general store, also owned by the Greens, is being restored. Quite possibly, said Long, this will also be an antique shop, bringing the town’s total to three.

“Antique shops are great for us because people will stay and eat,” she said. There is the old favorite, Horne’s, at the corner of Routes 301 and 17, and up 301 there is fine dining at River Haven. Also there is the Blue Bar Bakery and the attached coffee shop Loon E Tunes, which features live music.

And now, thanks to a 2014 boundary-line extension, which extends the town’s borders south to Route 17 and adds 300 acres to the town, Horne’s meal tax and sales tax will go to the town of Port Royal.

“It’s been a great help to us,” she said. “Having Horne’s has really helped us.”

Mayor Long attributed much of the present boom to increased traffic now that Interstate 95 is congested. “If you’re living in D.C. and headed down to Virginia Beach, Port Royal is about halfway, a good place to stop.”

There’s also the allure of Port Royal’s newly opened museums: Port Royal Museum of American History, Port Royal Museum of Medicine and the Port Royal Portrait Gallery. Caroline County historian Herbert Ridgeway Collins was crucial to their establishment.

“Herb is the biggest benefactor,” Long said.

As well, there’s the interesting and charming Old Port Royal School, restored by Cleo Coleman.

“Another thing I’m hoping will draw people to the town,” said Long, “we’re extending the pier 100 feet and putting a fishing tee on it.”

She explained how canoeists can launch here and paddle a half-mile to the Rappahannock River Valley National Wildlife Refuge, where they can walk the trails. “It was established primarily to help migrating birds,” she said.

Elected this past November to the Caroline County Board of Supervisors, Nancy Long will soon resign as mayor and the Port Royal Town Council will elect a new mayor.

“We’ve got a good, strong town council and they’ll keep moving forward,” she said.

“I feel like I’m leaving it in good shape.”