Mockhorn Island Wildlife Management Area is a

Wildlife Management Area A Wildlife Management Area (WMA) is a protected area set aside for the conservation of wildlife and for recreational activities involving wildlife. New Zealand There are 11 Wildlife Management Areas in New Zealand: * Horsham Downs Wildlife Ma ...

(WMA) in Northampton County on the

Eastern Shore of Virginia The Eastern Shore of Virginia consists of two counties ( Accomack and Northampton) on the Atlantic coast detached from the mainland of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The region is part of the Delmarva Peninsula and is se ...

. The larger of its two tracts is Mockhorn Island, a island separated from the mainland Eastern Shore and the

Virginia Barrier Islands The Virginia Barrier Islands are a continuous chain of long, narrow, low-lying, sand and scrub barrier islands separated from one another by narrow inlets and from the mainland by a series of shallow marshy tidal bays along the entire coast of th ...

by shallow bays and consisting mainly of tidal marshland along the Atlantic coast; in addition, the area contains a tract of marsh and upland areas on the mainland. Much of Mockhorn Island is submerged except at low tide. Although much of the island is composed of periodically inundated

cordgrass ''Spartina'' is a taxon of plants in the grass family, frequently found in coastal salt marshes. Its species are commonly known as cordgrass or cord-grass, and are native to the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean in western and southern Europe, north ...

, several

hummock In geology, a hummock is a small knoll or mound above ground.Bates, Robert L. and Julia A. Jackson, ed. (1984). “hummock.” Dictionary of Geological Terms, 3rd Ed. New York: Anchor Books. p. 241. They are typically less than in height and ...

s that remain above water host

loblolly pine ''Pinus taeda'', commonly known as loblolly pine, is one of several pines native to the Southeastern United States, from East Texas to Florida, and north to southern New Jersey. The wood industry classifies the species as a southern yellow pine. ...

eastern redcedar ''Juniperus virginiana'', also known as red cedar, eastern red cedar, Virginian juniper, eastern juniper, red juniper, and other local names, is a species of juniper native to eastern North America from southeastern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico ...

, southern wax myrtle, greenbriar,

honeysuckle Honeysuckles are arching shrubs or twining vines in the genus ''Lonicera'' () of the family Caprifoliaceae, native to northern latitudes in North America and Eurasia. Approximately 180 species of honeysuckle have been identified in both contin ...

, and poison ivy. The area intends to preserve the natural state of the island. Mockhorn Island WMA is owned and maintained by the

Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources is a department of the government of the U.S. state of Virginia that regulates wildlife conservation. History The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries was created on June 17, 1916, under the ...

. Although Mockhorn Island itself is accessible only by boat, the area is open to the public for waterfowl hunting; additional species may be hunted on the smaller mainland tract. Fishing, hiking, and primitive camping are also permitted at the area. Access for persons 17 years of age or older requires a valid hunting or fishing permit, a current Virginia boat registration, or a WMA access permit. A south eastern track is privately conserved as "Campo De Partida"

History

Mockhorn island was first settled by Europeans in the 17th century for the purpose of establishing a saltworks. In the early 19th century tracts of the island were sold off to owners who pastured cattle on the island. After the Civil War and the completion of the

New York, Philadelphia and Norfolk Railroad The New York, Philadelphia and Norfolk Railroad was a railroad line that ran down the spine of the Delmarva Peninsula from Wilmington, Delaware to Cape Charles, Virginia and then by ferry to Norfolk, Virginia. It became part of the Pennsylvania Ra ...

the Virginia barrier islands experienced increased recreational use and several extensive waterfowl hunting clubs catering to wealthy sportsmen from northern cities were built. The waterfowl hunting club on Mockhorn Island was started by Nathan Cobb, Jr. a

market hunter A professional hunter (less frequently referred to as market or commercial hunter and regionally, especially in Britain and Ireland, as professional stalker or gamekeeper) is a person who hunts and/or manages game by profession. Some professional ...

and renowned

decoy A decoy (derived from the Dutch ''de'' ''kooi'', literally "the cage" or possibly ''ende kooi'', " duck cage") is usually a person, device, or event which resembles what an individual or a group might be looking for, but it is only meant to lu ...

carver in the mid-1800s. His father Nathan Cobb, Sr. had founded another sportsman's resort, the Cobb Island Hunt Club, on Cobb Island a barrier island off Virginia's Eastern Shore. In 1902, Larimer A. Cushman, owner of the Cushman Bakeries in

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 ...

, bought Mockhorn Island. He expanded Cobb's existing hunting lodge and made it a comfortable home, built a barn and a smoke house, cleared pastures for cattle and fields for growing

alfalfa Alfalfa () (''Medicago sativa''), also called lucerne, is a perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. It is used for grazing, hay, and silage, as w ...

. Cushman kept a herd of Angus cattle confined within a 4-feet high concrete sea wall he built around the perimeter of the low lying farm to keep sea water from flooding his fields during high tides. After Larimer's retirement from the bakery business, the Cushmans moved south and lived year-round at the farm and called it their "Kingdom." Even though the Cushman's farm was nearly self-sufficient, life on the remote island was not easy. The farm was

off grid Off-the-grid or off-grid is a characteristic of buildings and a lifestyle designed in an independent manner without reliance on one or more public utilities. The term "off-the-grid" traditionally refers to not being connected to the electrical g ...

and only accessible by boat. Swarms of mosquitos and biting flies caused the cattle to often stay over their backs in the water during the warmer months.

Nor'easter A nor'easter (also northeaster; see below), or an East Coast low is a synoptic-scale extratropical cyclone in the western North Atlantic Ocean. The name derives from the direction of the winds that blow from the northeast. The original use o ...

s and hurricanes resulted in storm surges that periodically flooded the island and poisoned the fields with salt water. The attempt to farm the marshy land ultimately failed and after Larimer Cushman's death in 1948, his widow sold the island to T.A.D. Jones. Jones, a college

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

coach turned businessman used the compound for nearly a decade to entertain guests including military and political leaders who were flown in by helicopter for duck hunting trips. Jones died in 1957 and Mockhorn Island was acquired in 1959 by the Commonwealth of Virginia for use as a wildlife management area. The ruins of the Cushman's home and several outbuildings still stand on the island, however the barn collapsed in 2019. After falling in 2021 Only one fire control tower built during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

to support

coast artillery Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications. From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form of c ...

batteries at nearby

Fort John Custis Colonel John Custis IV (August 1678 – November 22, 1749) was an American planter, politician, government official and military officer who sat in the House of Burgesses from 1705 to 1706 and 1718 to 1719, representing the electoral constitue ...

and

Fort Story Joint Expeditionary Base-Fort Story, commonly called simply Fort Story is a sub-installation of Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek–Fort Story, which is operated by the United States Navy. Located in the independent city of Virginia Beach, Vir ...

still stands on Mockhorn Island. https://www.northamericanforts.com/East/Virginia/Towers/towers2.htm,

References

External links

Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries: Mockhorn Island Wildlife Management Area
{{Protected areas of Virginia Wildlife management areas of Virginia Protected areas of Northampton County, Virginia

History

See also

References

External links