Chamber Founder - Charles Franklin Russell I

Mr. Russell’s portrait now hangs front and center in the Chamber Boardroom.

Brief History of Charles Franklin Russell I

Charles Franklin Russell I was born in Hunting Creek in 1887. After dropping out of school in the 3rd grade to help support his family, he worked in various occupations. After various careers including building cement blocks, casket vaults and even cutting hair, he eventually became a General Contractor. The Parksley Shirt Factory, the former Parksley High School and the Rosenwald School in Cape Charles were all built by the CF Russell Construction Company.

In 1933, in the teeth of the Great Depression, he decided to build the first motel on the Eastern Shore of Virginia along what was then known as Stone Road. A master promoter, Russell held a naming contest for the new hotel, offering a gold coin as the grand prize. Out of all the names submitted, "The Whispering Pines" was chosen. The Pines became famous for its accommodations and excellent food, which was simply Eastern Shore cooking. Throughout the years, families would plan their vacations to specifically include a trip to The Pines, and several celebrities ate there, including Diana Ross.

Russell took several trips down south to promote the motel in a painted camper which had a mural of the likeness of the Pines. In his trips, he befriended several other motel owners along Route 13 and Route 17, and he decided to form what became known as the "Ocean Highway Association." The various motels along Route 13 and 17 banded together to share the cost of marketing to use these routes, as opposed to Route 1, for trips from New England and the northern mid-Atlantic to the coastal south.

Always on the lookout for opportunity, Russell spotted a piece of land he felt ripe for development, and he approached his friend, George W. McMath, to sell him 50 acres at the mouth of Onancock Creek. McMath reluctantly agreed, and Russell set out developing what is now known as East Point. The earliest houses built can still be distinguished today because they were built on a concrete slab. After the Eastern Shore's experience with Hurricane Donna in 1960, all future houses at East Point were built on an elevated block foundation.

In his efforts to promote the Eastern Shore as a whole as a tourism destination, Russell decided it was time for there to be an Eastern Shore of Virginia Chamber of Commerce. At the time, there were a couple Chamber's that served individual towns, but no chamber promoting the Eastern Shore as a whole. A great organizer, Russell sent a letter out to several of the areas leading businessmen, civic leaders and a local woman's club to get together to discuss the formation. The meeting was held on the Pocahontas steam ferry that ran from Kiptopeke to Little Creek, and the result was the Eastern Shore of Virginia Chamber of Commerce. Russell served as its first president in 1953. 

Charles Russell I died in 1963. His story is an inspiring one: a story of success, a story of the American dream. A story our children need to hear. That story is, no matter what life throws at you, if you keep an eye out for opportunity and, more importantly, work hard, you can achieve success. 

The Russell family after Mr. Russell’s portrait unveiling at East Point on September 3, 2020.