Croaker is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

James City County James City County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 78,254. Although politically separate from the county, the county seat is the adjacent independent city of Williamsburg. Located ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

on the south bank of the York River 10 miles downstream from

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

. The York River is formed from the confluence of the

Mattaponi River The Mattaponi River is a tributary of the York River estuary in eastern Virginia in the United States. History Historically, the Mattaponi River has been known by a variety of names and alternate spellings, including ''Mat-ta-pa-ment'', Matapa ...

and the

Pamunkey River The Pamunkey River is a tributary of the York River, about long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 in eastern Virginia in the United States. Via the York Rive ...

at West Point. The York River empties into the

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...

about 30 miles downstream from Croaker. The name "Croaker" is believed to have derived from the abundant quantity of

Atlantic croaker The Atlantic croaker (''Micropogonias undulatus'') is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Sciaenidae and is closely related to the black drum (''Pogonias cromis''), the silver perch (''Bairdiella chrysoura''), the spot cro ...

(''Micropogonias undulatus''), an inshore, bottom-dwelling fish found in the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the York River. The town of Croaker was known in its early history as Taskinas Plantation, then Hollywood (due to the many holly trees). "Taskinask" was designated by the

Tobacco Inspection Act of 1730 The Tobacco Inspection Act of 1730 (popularly known as the Tobacco Inspection Act) was a 1730 English law designed to improve the quality of tobacco exported from Colonial Virginia. Proposed by Virginia Lieutenant Governor Sir William Gooch, the ...

as the site public

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

warehouse where local planters stored their crops to be shipped to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Croaker had several stores, two schools, a church, and several houses by the early 20th century. Some of the shopkeepers who established a presence before 1950 were members of the Garrett family. Garrett's Grocery opened in 1909 and was run by five generations of the family until its closing on December 31, 2013. Croaker General Store took over the building and opened up on May 25, 2015. In February, 2006, the historic

Norge Norge is Norwegian (bokmål), Danish and Swedish for Norway. It may also refer to: People * Kaare Norge (born 1963), Danish guitarist * Norge Luis Vera (born 1971), Cuban baseball player Places * 11871 Norge, asteroid Toponyms: *Norge, Oklah ...

railroad station (circa 1908) of the

Peninsula Extension The Peninsula Extension which created the Peninsula Subdivision of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) was the new railroad line on the Virginia Peninsula from Richmond to southeastern Warwick County. Its principal purpose was to provide an ...

of the

Chesapeake and Ohio Railway The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P. Huntington, it reached from Virginia's capital city of Richmond t ...

(C&O) was relocated about 1 mile to a site adjacent to the James City County Branch of the Williamsburg Regional Library (opened in 1996) on Croaker Road. The following month, work was underway to set a new foundation for the building.

York River State Park York River State Park is located near the unincorporated community, unincorporated town of Croaker, Virginia, Croaker in James City County, Virginia on the south bank of the York River (Virginia), York River about 10 miles downstream from West Poi ...

, opened in 1980, is located at Croaker. In the state park, the historical Croaker Landing is an

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

site listed in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

since 1987. While much of Croaker is now within

, the remaining area is divided among residential, farming, and woodland area.

Interstate 64 Interstate 64 (I-64) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the Eastern United States. Its western terminus is at I-70, U.S. Route 40 (US 40), and US 61 in Wentzville, Missouri. Its eastern terminus is at an interchange w ...

skirts the edge of the community, and it is accessed from Exit 231, which is signed "Croaker-Norge." The old Richmond-Williamsburg Stage Road, now U.S. Route 60, also is nearby. There is also a farm where the busts of former presidents all the way up to George W. Bush are located. However they are in a moderate state of disrepair. Said busts are from an old tourist attraction called Presidents Park, which went bankrupt in 2010.

References

External links

* Geographical coordinates: (click for maps and satellite photos of Croaker, Virginia)
James City County
(official website)
Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools
{{authority control Unincorporated communities in James City County, Virginia Unincorporated communities in Virginia

Further reading

References

External links