Morgart's Beach
Isle of Wight County, Virginia
Excerpts from "Historical Notes on Isle Of Wight County"
In 1892 J.A. Morgart (John Addison Morgart) from Connellsville, Pennsylvania,
chartered the Day's
Point Land and Improvement Company for a group from Pennsylvania.
Mr. and Mrs. Morgart built Day's Point Hotel, a two story frame building with
twenty rooms and a wrap around porch, to take care of prospective buyers. After
Mr. Morgart's tragic death on July 31, 1918, a local corporation leased the
property and made improvements which transformed what they renamed Morgart's
Beach Hotel into a real resort which was at the height of its popularity in
1926. However, with the improvement of roads and transportation, the popularity
of Morgart's Beach dwindled.
In 1941, the buildings and properties were purchased by the Future Farmers and
Future Homemakers of America for a summer camp.
The old hotel was razed and a cinder block dormitory was built.
In 1902 the resident manager, J. A. Morgart, and his wife Olive built a
two-story frame hotel on the James River bank.
This hotel was first known as the Day's Point Hotel. It served as a place for
prospective buyers to stay and look over the real estate. The Morgarts became
well-known for the meals they served: fresh fish caught in the James,
(especially in the spring when the shad were running), vegetables and fruit
picked daily in season, Smithfield ham carved in delicious thin slices, fried
chicken, and homemade ice cream every Sunday. It was quite a treat for
residents of Smithfield to drive out to the Day's Point Hotel for dinner and a
swim on Sunday afternoon.
There was a well near the hotel which produced in a steady flow artesian lithia
water, which, according to an analysis by Froehling and Robertson, was a true
mineral water of much value and would prove beneficial to a number of diseases
and ailments such as dyspepsia, catarrh of the stomach, constipation, gout,
uric acid, calculus or gravel of the kidneys, and diabetes. (
Daily Press and Times Herald
, September 17, 1986, pg. 12.)
This miracle water was bottled and shipped to many places. Later, bathers used
the overflow of the well as a most refreshing shower.
July 31, 1918, was a stormy day.
Morgart felt it wise to take his boat out to deep water, so he called his
neighbor, young Angier Conklin, to go with him. They anchored the boat near the
shad poles and started swimming the short distance to shore, when Angier
noticed Morgart was not coming. He turned back to the boat and dived
repeatedly, but with no luck. Angier had noticed that Morgart had not dived
into the water, but had slid off the boat. Later that evening, Morgart's body
washed up on shore. The coroner gave the cause of death as a heart attack.
Morgart is buried in Ivy Hill Cemetery.
The name "Morgart's Beach" was given to this spot after J. A. Morgart's death
on July 31, 1918. And it has stuck. Not long after her husband's death, Mrs.
Morgart returned to her home in Pennsylvania.
Information and Morgart's Hotel photo courtesy of Regina Irwin
MORGART, MORGRET, & MORGRETTE FAMILY GENEALOGY
