The Eastern Shore of Virginia consists of two
counties (
Accomack and
Northampton
Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England ...
) on the
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
coast detached from the mainland of the
Commonwealth
A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...
of
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 are ...
in the
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 Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
. The region is part of the
Delmarva Peninsula and is separated from the rest of Virginia by the
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the Eastern Shore of Maryland / ...
. Its population was 45,695 as of 2020.
The terrain is overall very flat, ranging from sea level to just above sea level. It is characterized by
sand
Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class ...
y and deep soil. The weather in the area has temperate summers and winters, significantly affected by the
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the Eastern Shore of Maryland / ...
and the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
.
["Virginia's Eastern Shore (AVA): Appellation Description"](_blank)
''Appellation America'', 2007, Retrieved Jan. 31, 2008 The rural area has long been devoted to
cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...
,
soybean
The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean, which has numerous uses.
Traditional unfermented food uses of soybeans include soy milk, from which tofu ...
, vegetable and
truck farm
A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. The diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically from under to so ...
ing, and large-scale chicken farms.
Since the late 20th century, vineyards have been developed in both counties, and the Eastern Shore has received recognition as an
American Viticultural Area
An American Viticultural Area (AVA) is a designated wine grape-growing region in the United States, providing an official appellation for the mutual benefit of wineries and consumers. Winemakers frequently want their consumers to know about t ...
(AVA).
The region has more than 78,000 acres of preserved parks, refuges, preserves and a national seashore and is a popular outdoor recreation destination for fishing, boating, hiking and kayaking. It is also an important birding hotspot along the
Atlantic Flyway at the southernmost tip of the Delmarva Peninsula. There are public beaches at
Cape Charles,
Kiptopeke State Park
Kiptopeke State Park is a state park located in the southern end of the Eastern Shore of Virginia and the Delmarva Peninsula in Northampton County, near Cape Charles. From 1949, the site was owned by the Virginia Ferry Corporation and used thr ...
,
Savage Neck Dunes Natural Area Preserve,
Tangier Island and the
Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge
The Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge is a wildlife preserve operated by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. It is primarily located on the Virginia half of Assateague Island with portions (only about 3%) located on the Maryland side of the ...
abutting the
Assateague Island National Seashore
Assateague Island National Seashore is a unit of the National Park Service system of the U.S. Department of the Interior. Located on the East Coast along the Atlantic Ocean in Maryland and Virginia, Assateague Island is the largest natural barr ...
.
The area includes 70 miles of
barrier island
Barrier islands are coastal landforms and a type of dune system that are exceptionally flat or lumpy areas of sand that form by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from a ...
s, the longest chain of undeveloped barrier islands in the global temperate zone and a United Nations International Biosphere Reserve. At the northern end of the Atlantic side is the beach community of
Chincoteague, famous for its annual
wild pony roundup, gathered from
Assateague Island.
Wallops Flight Facility
Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) is a rocket launch site on Wallops Island on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, United States, just east of the Delmarva Peninsula and approximately north-northeast of Norfolk. The facility is operated by the Godda ...
, a
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeedin ...
space launch base, is located near Chincoteague. At the southern end of the Chesapeake Bay coast, the beach community of
Cape Charles, a historic railroad town, is home to the Cape Charles Yacht Center, a super yacht service center. The town of
Wachapreague on the Atlantic coast is a popular destination for fishing and guided trips out to the wild barrier islands.
Onancock, a harbor town on the Chesapeake Bay, has a ferry service to
Tangier Island, off the western shore in the
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the Eastern Shore of Maryland / ...
, during spring, summer and fall.
The Eastern Shore, geographically removed from the rest of Virginia, has had a unique history of settlement and development influenced by agriculture, fishing, tourism, and the
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...
. William G. Thomas describes the Eastern Shore during the late 19th and early 20th century as "a highly complex and interdependent landscape". He continues:
It was a liminal place, a zone of interpenetration, where the settlement patterns, speech, demography, and political outcomes defined its place in the South but its engagement with technology and rapid transformation of the landscape betrayed other allegiances, motives, forces, and effects.[William G. Thomas, "The Countryside Transformed: The Eastern Shore of Virginia, the Pennsylvania Railroad, and the Creation of a Modern Landscape"](_blank)
, ''Southern Spaces'', 31 July 2007
The
Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel, which is part of
U.S. Route 13, spans the mouth of the Bay and connects the Eastern Shore to
South Hampton Roads and the rest of Virginia. Before the Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel was built in 1964, the
Little Creek-Cape Charles Ferry
The Little Creek-Cape Charles Ferry was a passenger ferry service operating across the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay from the 1930s until 1964. Known also as the ''Princess Anne-Kiptopeke Beach Ferry'' or ''Little Creek-Kiptopeke Beach Ferry'', th ...
provided the continuation of U.S. 13 across this stretch of water.
History
Accomac Shire was established in the
Virginia Colony 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 Charles I may refer to:
Kings and emperors
* Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings
* Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily
* Charles I of ...
. It was one of the original eight
shires of Virginia, and consisted of the whole of Virginia's Delmarva territory. The shire's name comes from the Native American word Accawmack, which means, "the other shore".
In 1642, the name was changed to
Northampton County. (In England, "shires" and "counties" are the same thing.) In 1663, Northampton County was split into two counties. The northern two thirds took the original Accomac name, while the southern third remained as Northampton.
In 1670, the
Virginia Colony'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.
Media
The area is served by the weekly Eastern Shore Post and the monthly publication Eastern Shore First. The predominant radio station is WESR 103.3 FM, which operates the website ShoreDailyNews.com.
Politics
The Eastern Shore is politically divided, with
Accomack County generally voting for the
Republican Party
Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party.
Republican Party may also refer to:
Africa
* Republican Party (Liberia)
*Republican Party ...
and
Northampton County generally voting for the
Democratic Party. As a whole, the Shore is generally a bellwether region, but also slightly tilts Republican owing to Accomack's larger share of the population. In the
2017 gubernatorial election, it gave 50.5% of the vote to Republican
Ed Gillespie and 49.0% of the vote to Democrat
Ralph Northam.
It is represented in the
U.S. House of Representatives by Democrat
Elaine Luria, in the
Virginia Senate
The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate is composed of 40 senators representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts. The Senate is presided over by the lieutenant governor of Virg ...
by Democrat
Lynwood Lewis
Lynwood Wayne Lewis Jr. (born November 26, 1961) is an American politician and lawyer. A Democrat, he was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in November 2003, representing the 100th district, which consists of the Eastern Shore countie ...
, and in the
Virginia House of Delegates
The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-number ...
by Republican
Robert Bloxom Jr.
Transportation
Roads
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*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Railroads
*
Delmarva Central Railroad
Airports
*
Accomack County Airport
*
Campbell Field Airport
*
Tangier Island Airport
See also
*
Battle of Kedges Strait
The Battle of Kedges Strait (also known as the Battle of the Barges) took place on November 30, 1782 near Tangier Sound in Chesapeake Bay near the town of Onancock, Virginia, between naval militia forces of the rebellious British colony of Marylan ...
– the last naval engagement of the American Revolutionary War
*
Debedeavon
*
Delmarva Peninsula
*
Eastern Shore of Maryland
*
Chincoteague Island Chincoteague may refer to:
Geography in the United States
*Chincoteague Bay, a bay on the coast of Maryland and Virginia
*Chincoteague Channel, a channel in Virginia connecting Chincoteague Bay and Chincoteague Inlet
*Chincoteague Inlet, an inlet o ...
, Virginia
References
Further reading
* William G. Thoma
"The Countryside Transformed:The Eastern Shore of Virginia, the Pennsylvania Railroad, and the Creation of a Modern Landscape"''Southern Spaces,'' 31 July 2007.
External links
Eastern Shore of Virginia - Official State Tourism Website & MapEastern Shore VisitorAccomack-Northampton Planning District CommissionEastern Shore of Virginia Tourism CommissionNorthampton County Chamber of Commerce
{{Coord, 37, 34, 52.2, N, 75, 47, 14.9, W, display=title
Regions of Virginia