Many large homes were constructed to house railroad executives as well as for the expanding merchant class. With most of it's structures built between 1885 and 1920, Cape Charles has one of the largest concentrations of late-Victorian and turn-of-the-century buildings on the East Coast. In 1989, the town was designated as an Historic District on the Virginia Landmarks Register and in 1991 was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Today, Cape Charles is still a railroad town serving as the headquarters for the Eastern Shore Railroad which is one of the largest shortline railroads in the United States. The line is unique in that it operates a 26 mile rail-barge ferry link to Norfolk across the Chesapeake Bay.