Accomac Shire was established in the Colony of Virginia by the

House of Burgesses The House of Burgesses was the elected representative element of the Virginia General Assembly, the legislative body of the Colony of Virginia. With the creation of the House of Burgesses in 1642, the General Assembly, which had been establishe ...

in 1634 under the direction of King Charles I. It was one of the original eight

shires of Virginia The eight Shires of Virginia were formed in 1634 in the Virginia Colony. These shires were based on a form of local government used in England at the time, and were redesignated as counties a few years later. As of 2007, five of the eight original ...

. The shire's name comes from the Native American word "Accawmack". In 1642, the name was changed to Northampton County by English colonists. In 1663, Northampton County was split into two counties that still exist. The northern two thirds took the original Accomac name, while the southern third remained as Northampton. In 1670, the

Virginia Colony The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colony in North America, following failed attempts at settlement on Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey GilbertGilbert (Saunders Family), Sir Humphrey" (histor ...

's Royal Governor William Berkeley abolished Accomac County, but the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 16 ...

re-created it in 1671. In 1940, the General Assembly officially added a "k" to the end of the county's name to arrive at its current spelling, which is Accomack County.

References

{{Reflist Virginia shires 1634 establishments in Virginia Populated places established in 1634