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"Unique" is an accurate description of Virginia's Eastern Shore. It is a 75-mile long peninsula with the Chesapeake Bay on its west coast, the Atlantic Ocean on its east coast, and access from the north and south only by bridge.
This peninsula is beautifully interlaced with saline bays and tidal creeks. It has 129,000 acres of cropland, 128,900 acres of woodland, 143,730 acres of tidal marsh, 7,000 acres of coastal beach, 36,774 miscellaneous acres and 263 square miles of water. Best of all, you share all of this with slightly less than 50,000 other lucky people.
The Eastern Shore is geologically young, being less than a million years old. However, Captain John Smith officially discovered the area while exploring the Chesapeake Bay in 1608, and our southernmost barrier island was named for him. While Jamestown was confronted with full-scale Indian animosity, the Eastern Shore had friendly natives, fertile fields, game-filled woods and bountiful waters. With these ingredients the real estate business officially began with the purchase of land here by the Jamestown government in 1614 and English colonization in 1620.
The courthouse records here are the oldest in America, running continuously from 1634. Because of this, much of the land here can be traced to grants from the King of England. Thanks to a lifetime of tireless research in these records by the late Ralph D. Whitelaw, his 2-volume "Virginia's Eastern Shore" provides the chronological history of the people, the land and the interesting variety of antique houses.
A host of really outstanding colonial houses line the creek shores, the high ground overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and the court house towns of Accomac and Eastville. Few areas in America have the quantity of restored colonial homes as does the Eastern Shore. Some are open to the public during the Historic Garden Week Tour during the last week of April each year. This sharing of antiquity has promoted a lasting kinship between this peninsula and the more prominent Colonial Williamsburg.
The Eastern Shore has an architectural style all its own. It is called "Big House-Little House-Colonnade-Kitchen", and its origin is felt to have been economic. A family added to the house as the need arose and whenever they could afford it. Most early dwellings are of frame construction with varying roof levels and two or more chimneys, the roofs are mostly of the A-type with small dormer windows on the front and the back. Other houses are a two full stories, some all brick, some with brick ends and some all frame. The stylish Flemish bond brickwork is prevalent, especially in the chimney work.
100 years before the American Revolution our ancestors sent "The Northampton Protests" to Mother England. It was a formal complaint about unfair taxation. To reinforce our position on this subject, we wrote the first English speaking play in America - "Ye Bear And Ye Cub". This, too, was another complaint about taxation. The right to speak out in opposition to taxes has been held as a sacred tradition, and we have nurtured it for over 300 years.
CLIMATE
A 15-year study shows the annual average temperature to be a moderate 57.5 degrees (77 as a Summer average and 40 as a Winter average). The average annual rainfall is 43". The average annual snowfall is 6". Insulation by the Atlantic and the Chesapeake plus our proximity to The Gulf Stream contribute to this. This climate and several prolific soil types create a rapid rate of growth for crops, the nursery industry and forestry.
PUBLIC
USE
If conservation means "to set aside for the public", the conservation of our wetlands dates from 1894, when James B. Baylor began his survey that set aside 81,215 acres of wetlands in the Atlantic and Chesapeake for the public use.
The State has Bone and Wreck Islands on the Ocean and Parker's Marsh with beachfront on the Bay. These lands were placed in "The Natural Areas System".
The ocean's barrier islands are nearly all owned by The Nature Conservancy, Uncle Sam or the state and are reached by boat. Assateague has a bridge to its National Seashore Park and National Wildlife Refuge. Wallops, the home of the N.A.S.A. space launch facilities, is bridged, also. The Nature Conservancy permits limited public use of its islands, as it formulates future plans.
COMMUNITY
FACILITIES
The Shore has 145-bed hospital with modern facilities attended by an able staff of physicians and a school of nurse's training. There are 3 nursing homes. We have 19 fire companies and 8 provide ambulance and rescue services.
We have the Eastern Shore Community College - a 2-year facility built in an area with the Industrial Park, the Accomack County Airport with its 7,000' airstrip and private charter service, and the Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce. By way of other schools, we have 3 Primary, 8 Elementary, 4 Middle, 4 High, 1 private and several church schools. The Public Library is in Accomac, and provides bookmobile services. We trust our money to our 9 banks with their many branches. To be sure, we have 110 Protestant and 3 Catholic churches.
WILDLIFE and
GAME
Our waters attract over 175 different species of waterfowl and shore birds. Some of these species live here year around. Others visit annually as they migrate along the Atlantic Flyway from the colder climes. They are a treasure to sportsman and observer alike. Although there is an exhilarating and indescribable feeling that comes with the hunt. The study of their nesting, their breeding and the raising of their young in the many local rookeries are equally rewarding.
Bobwhite quail and mourning dove are the most popular small game birds,
but woodcock and Japanese green pheasant are becoming more plentiful.
If you require that your quarry have four legs, we have white-tailed and
sika deer, rabbits, gray squirrel, red fox and many others. Raccoon hunting
has had a rebirth, and trapping for muskrat, otter and others is still
popular.
If you plan to shoot or trap with anything more powerful than a camera, be sure to have your licenses, duck stamp and permits for hunting on private land.
SEAFOOD and
FISHING
With the Chesapeake and the Atlantic at our disposal, it's no wonder that the Shore offers some 40 species of finfish, and we hold the world records for cobia, channel bass and black drum. Normally, the season begins in April and runs well into Autumn, but there are some who fish almost all year. Many troll offshore for billfish, but surf fishing and bottom fishing are the most popular. There are some marinas, and each year additional facilities are added. County boat ramps are located near where you want to fish. This is salt-water country, but there is a growing interest in fresh water fly-fishing. This developed from the advent of large bass in irrigation ponds.
Finfish are not the sole source of sport or edible delights from our waters. Crabbing is exciting to people of all ages. Also, where permitted, the public can enjoy, without a license, a feast of clams and oysters in season. For the gourmet, there are mussels, mannose, and scallops. In the deeper waters of the Atlantic, there are lobster and stone crab.
To celebrate these gifts the Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce has a Seafood Festival the 1st Wednesday in May and a Harvest Fest the 1st Wednesday in October.
RECREATION
If you have been unable to find a form of recreation to suit you, we have more. Just across the Maryland Line is the 9-hole golf course at Pocomoke City and the 18-hole Nassawango Country Club. Once in Virginia, there is the 9-hole course at Captain's Cove community, and the 9-hole public course at Cape Charles. The Eastern Shore Yacht & Country Club is private but has an 18-hole championship course, tennis courts, a pool & boat dock. There are tennis and swimming in other private and community areas.
The beach is high on everyone's list of recreation. Whether you drive to Assateague or run by boat to the more deserted islands, you can swim, surf, windsurf everywhere or just sun yourself on the sand.
TAXES
ACCOMACK COUNTY assesses Real Property and Personal Property at an estimated 100% of its value. The amount depends on the District. NORTHAMPTON COUNTY, also, assesses Real Property at 100% of value. Machinery and Tools have a tax rate in both counties that scales over a 5-year period of time.
SPACE RESEARCH
In 1945 the Langley Research Center established a rocket launch site on isolated Wallops Island. Thus began an era of rocketry and space exploration with a rate of success second to none in the country. In the early days aerodynamic data was obtained at transonic and low supersonic speeds with payloads that were sometimes as small as a ballpoint pen. From these humble beginnings, came programs that ranged in importance from the launching and rescuing of monkeys in preparation for manned space flight, to multi-national satellites with telecommunications. The N.A.S.A. program with its subcontractors is a prime Eastern Shore employer, as are some of its offshoots, such as the weather gathering N.O.A.A. An exhibition center is open on the base, and tours can be arranged.
ACCOMACK COUNTY is the larger of the two Shore counties in both size and population. It has 5 Electoral Districts, which elect 9 members to its governing Board of Supervisors, who meet in open session the third Wednesday morning of each month in the County Office Building in Accomac. For more information call 787-4289.
NORTHAMPTON COUNTY has 3 Electoral Districts, which elect 6 members to its governing Board of Supervisors, who meet the second Monday evening of each month in the court house in Eastville. The number to call for more information is 678-5148.
Each county has its own Administrative Assistant and staff, Zoning Officer, Treasurer, Commissioner of Revenue, Assessor and Mapping Office, Clerk of court, Commonwealth's Attorney, School Board and Sheriff's Office. The two counties share a Planning Commission.
