Portobago Bay- Area's Best Kept Secret, Revealed.
Portobago Bay was named after the Portobago Indian Tribe, whom once used this beautiful land as home. Captain John Smith described passing vast indian settlements on his famous discovery of Virginia. He passed right by this beautiful area situated five miles south of the town of Port Royal on the Rappahannock River. The bay was formed over thousands of years of river flow to form a very wide river basin. Wide river views are panoramic and over one mile in distance of width. This is quite rare for the Rappahannock River, known for it's strong current and deep narrow channels. These views are the widest for at least 100 miles. The water depths in the bay varies anywhere from 3 to 6 feet. This makes the bay special for the shallow depths tend to keep out excessive boat traffic. All is left is the peace and quiet and most remarkable views you can imagine. Portobago Bay was formed in 1985 by developer Carl Silver. Before the development, this land was once a cattle farm owned by the Baylor family. The original home of the historic "Portobago" plantation originated in the 1700's and was owned by the Waring family. Lawrence Battaile White purchased the plantation in 1863 and the White family lived there until the house burned in 1910. This information came to me by Lawrence White's Great Grand Daughter, Nan Williams. The remnants of this house still stand in a grove of trees on northern point of Portobago Bay. This area is rich in history. I fell in love with this place back in 1988 while working for the Caroline County Sheriff's Office. The community always welcomed local law enforcement with open arms. I recollect times of just sitting at the very end of the very long dock and leaving my stress behind. I vowed to make my home here. In the year 2000, I purchased My lot 100 on the Portobago Creek. My wife, Christen, and I built our home here. We raise our five year old twins, Thomas and Rachel, in this community. We all enjoy family walks around Portobago Trail where it's not unusual to pass three or four other families doing the same. Road traffic on these state maintained roads are at a minimum. We bike ride. We fish at the commons area on the river and on Lake Powhatan. The community consist now of around 45 homes with a total of 106 lots. Some residents purchased their neighboring lots to avoid congestion. These residents are all just like family. We have about 5 get together a year, usually at the Reynold's Pavilion at the river commons area. We have numerous picnics for all occasions. There is a crime awareness day in which our children enjoy the company of McGruff, The Crime Dog. There are games for the kids to play and get to know their local law enforcement, curtious of the Caroline Sheriff's Office. We have a neighborhood crime watch program in effect here. I head that committee. I even have such a great relationship with our Sheriff's Office that they welcome our calls anytime, even if we are going out of town and want an officer to make sure our homes are safe until our return. If I were to define true paradise, it would be my Portobago Bay. The Bay is located far enough away from the hustle and bustle to be peaceful, yet close enough to be convenient. Our community consist of doctors, lawyers, CEO's, nurses, teachers, bankers, military personnel, engineers, and retired professionals, etc. We welcome you. Now, the secret is out.
Comment Notification
Subscribe to this post's comments using
Comments
Leave a Comment