Greenbackville is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

(CDP) 4.5 miles (5 km) south of

Stockton, Maryland Stockton is a census-designated place (CDP) in Worcester County, Maryland, United States. The population was 92 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Salisbury, Maryland-Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Stockton, originally call ...

Accomack County, Virginia Accomack County is a United States county located in the eastern edge of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Together, Accomack and Northampton counties make up the Eastern Shore of Virginia, which in turn is part of the Delmarva Peninsula, bordered ...

, located just south of the

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

state line. Per the 2020 census, the population was 173.

History

The town was settled in 1867 and was officially named "Greenbackville" by the United States Postal Service in 1874. Greenbackville and neighboring

Franklin City, Virginia Franklin City is an unincorporated community in Accomack County, Virginia, United States. Greenbackville and neighboring Franklin City grew as a result of the railroad line laid in the late 19th century to transport oysters and other shellfish f ...

grew as a result of the railroad line, the Worcester railroad, completed on April 7, 1876 Hayman, John C. Rails Along the Chesapeake: A History of Railroading on the Delmarva Peninsula, 1827-1978. Marvadel Publishers, 1979. to transport

oysters Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not al ...

and other

shellfish Shellfish is a colloquial and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater envir ...

from Chincoteague to

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. However, during the course of the 20th century

the Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagion ...

, the construction of the Chincoteague Causeway, and the nor'easter of 1962 all helped to erode Greenbackville's economic base. The railroad line from the Maryland State line into Franklin City was abandoned in 1956.Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) abandonment index, Part II, ICC case #19305 Accessed a

/ref> The population of Accomack County near Greenbackville grew with the creation of Captains Cove, Virginia, Captains Cove, a planned residential community just west of Greenbackville.

Demographics

2020 census

''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.''

References

{{authority control Census-designated places in Accomack County, Virginia Former municipalities in Virginia Census-designated places in Virginia