Sunray Agricultural Historic District

Sunray is a planned farming community in Chesapeake, Virginia, laid out in 1908 by the Southern Homestead Company between the Great Dismal Swamp and what is now Interstate 64. Rectangular fields run north to south and are divided by handmade brackish-water tidal ditches and paved roads. Early 20th century farmhouses sit about twenty-five feet back from the roads, with barns and sheds clustered nearby. At the entrance, where the road meets the abandoned Virginian Railroad tracks, stand St. Mary's Catholic Church, built in 1915-1916 in Gothic Revival style, and a brick Craftsman-style school from 1922 built to a state standard design. Carpenter Michale Pavlovetz built an ornate house on Homestead Avenue and helped neighbors build theirs. Mid-century ranch and Colonial Revival houses were added on subdivided plots without disturbing the original layout. The district is recognized for its agriculture, community planning and immigrant heritage between 1908 and 1956.