Gwynn's Island is an island in 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 parts of the Ea ...

and the U.S. state of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, lying off of the Middle Peninsula. A summer colony, the island is located in the northeast part of Mathews County, south of the mouth of the Piankatank River. It is connected to the rest of the county by a

swing bridge A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that can be rotated horizontally around a vertical axis. It has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravit ...

over Milford Haven. The communities of Gwynn and Grimstead are located on the island.

History

Archeological evidence found on Gwynn's Island indicates that the island was inhabited as early as ten thousand years ago. In 1642, Hugh Gwyn of Jamestown purchased the island; he and his family became the first English settlers there. On a 1670 map, the island was labeled "Wings Ile" and also "Guis Ile". In 1776, Gwynn's Island served as a base for Lord Dunmore, the last royal governor of Virginia, after the Burning of Norfolk. A

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

outbreak and attacks by the revolting patriots led Dunmore to leave the island in the summer of 1776. During the attacks on Gwynn's Island in July 1776, the only casualty on the side of the revolutionaries was one Captain Dohickey Arundel, commander of two eighteen-pound cannons, who attempted to fire an experimental wooden mortar of his own invention, "though the general and all the officers were against his firing it". The mortar exploded on its first shot, killing Arundel instantly.

Present day

Thomas Edwards, a resident of the Island, is the Director of the Gwynn's Island Museum and has been at the helm since 2015.

References

External links

Gwynn's Island Museum

Gwynn's Island Festival
Landforms of Mathews County, Virginia Virginia islands of the Chesapeake Bay Tourist attractions in Mathews County, Virginia American Revolution {{MathewsCountyVA-geo-stub