The Phoebus National Historic District - an 86-acre section of Phoebus which encompasses the historic business area on Mellen and Mallory Streets and a significant number of homes - is a reality.

The district was added to the state register following by the Board of Historic Resources on September 6, 2006.

On December 1, 2006 the National Park Service added the Phoebus Historic District to its National Register of Historic Places.

“This is a significant step forward for our community,” said Michael P. Lazorchak, president of the Phoebus Improvement League. “It recognizes that the architecture and history of Phoebus are precious resources that add to the character and flavor of Hampton, and are worth preserving for future generations.”

Of the 426 buildings included in the district, 60 percent are now eligible for a combination of federal and state tax credits of up to 45 percent for qualified preservation or rehabilitation.

“All along, the motivation for the project has been to create opportunities for property owners, and to encourage investors to take a new look at Phoebus,” Lazorchak said.

“When it comes to that, this is the first of a number of win-win situations for Phoebus,” he said. “Phoebus is a gateway community, and when you combine the creation of our new historic district with interest in Fort Monroe and the new master plans for Phoebus and Buckroe, there’s no way we can lose.”

Lazorchak said historic districts have been used throughout the United States to jump-start investment in communities, and pointed to Park Place and Granby Street in Norfolk, Port Norfolk in Portsmouth and downtown Suffolk as local examples where historic districts have spurred preservation and growth.

In Suffolk, he said, eight buildings were assessed for $700,000 in 2003. After rehabilitation, the same buildings were valued at more than $3.34 million. “Done carefully and correctly, these kinds of projects add a great deal to a community’s feeling of pride in itself, not to mention how much they have added to a city’s tax base.”

Lazorchak said the nomination form to become a historic district, which has taken about 18 months to complete, cost slightly more that $30,000 and was privately funded by the league. The application was prepared by the Commonwealth Preservation Group of Suffolk and contains more than 1,200 pages of history, resource descriptions, plats and maps.

In Virginia, among the more than 2,400 properties are already included on the National Register of Historic Places, are Fort Monroe, Fort Wool, and the Reuben Clark house in Phoebus.

To read the Phoebus Historic District nomination, click here.