The
Waterman's Legacy:
The
Shores and Islands of Virginia
Virginia
boasts 3,315 miles of tidal shoreline, which
includes a 112-mile coastline as well as offshore
islands, sounds, bays, rivers and creeks near the
coast. The commonwealth’s history, economy and
daily life are closely associated with these
lowlands, where one fifth of the state’s
population lives.
For
example, it was the watermen – those who knew the
area best -- who ensured victory at Yorktown during
the Revolutionary War. Watermen helped navigate
ships from the French fleet through the tricky
waters of the Chesapeake and the York to aid the
American forces at the climatic Yorktown battle.
Even
the term “waterman” is unique. Early colonists
used the term because it described the fishermen who
worked the Thames in their native England. Today, it
is heard only along the Chesapeake and on that
London waterway.
Each
summer The
Watermen's Museum in Yorktown holds a
Waterman’s Heritage Celebration that highlights
the heyday of commercial fishing along Virginia’s
shoreline when skipjacks – boats with sails unique
to the Bay -- crowded the waters in the late
19th-century. At least 15 watermen’s associations
stretch along the Virginia coast, from the Accomack
Hand Harvesters Association in Chincoteague to the
Hampton Roads Watermen’s Association headquartered
in Norfolk.
Tiny
Tangier Island is one of the remaining island
outposts where watermen (and women) still rely on
crabbing and oystering to make a living. Originally
an Indian fishing ground, Tangier was first visited
by John Smith in 1608 during his tour of the
Chesapeake Bay. Two centuries later, the British
launched an attack from the island on Baltimore
during the War of 1812. A Methodist congregation was
established in 1835 and because of the church’s
influence, the residents of Tangier disagreed with
the rest of Virginia over slavery during the Civil
War.
Today,
there are fewer than 600 inhabitants on the island.
In addition to fishing, tourism is the only other
major industry. There are few cars on the island;
the roads are only wide enough for two golf carts to
pass each other and most residents and tourists use
the carts, boats, mopeds and bikes to get around.
But
the Old Dominion’s coastal islands are not just
the stomping ground for watermen. Two other popular
Virginia islands are Assateague and Chincoteague,
which together form a 37-mile long barrier land mass
straddling the Virginia/Maryland border and are
known for wild horses and a lighthouse.
Three
agencies protect parts of the islands, including
Virginia’s Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge,
Maryland’s Assateague State Park and the national
Assateague Island National Seashore.
As
to the “ponies,” made famous in the Misty of
Chincoteague series, the states split the ownership
of the horses. (“Ponies” is a misnomer). In
Virginia, the Chincoteague Fire Department owns the
horses. In Maryland, the animals are owned and
managed by the National Park Service. A fence at the
border between the states keeps the two groups
apart. (As an aside, the Park Service no longer
considers the horses “feral” because they are
descended from domesticated horses, and their
behavior reflects that behavior.) The island has no
resident population and is used for camping, hiking,
kayaking and other outdoor activities.
Stretching
south of Assateague and Chincoteague are 13 other
barrier islands, including both Wallops and
Fisherman’s Island. Wallops, just south of
Chincoteague, is six square miles. It was originally
granted to John Wallop by the Crown in 1692 and
divided through various generations. In 1876 and
1877, it was seized for unpaid taxes. At one point
the island was owned by the Wallops Island Club,
whose members spent summers fishing and swimming
there. In 1947, the U.S. Navy began using part of
the island to test ordinance, and today it is used
primarily for the National Aeronautics and Space
Agency’s Wallops
Flight Facility. The population of the entire
peninsular area that includes the island is a little
more than 400.
Fisherman
Island is at the southern tip of Virginia’s chain
of barrier islands at the entrance to the Chesapeake
Bay. In geological time, it is young -- formed only
about 200 to 250 years ago. Highway 13 and the
Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel cut across the island,
which is a part of the national Eastern Shore of
Virginia National Wildlife Refuge and a habitat for
waterfowl, shorebirds and waterbirds.
Whether
it is the old English dialect spoken on Tangier or
the “wild” horses of Chincoteague, Virginia’s
coastal islands have a long and quirky heritage.
Only on Tangier would Kevin Costner and Paul Newman
not receive a royal welcome. When a production
company asked to film 1999’s “Message in a
Bottle” on the island, the city fathers objected
to parts of the script. The producers had to go
elsewhere.
NEXT:
And What Happened Here? Historical Markers of
Virginia
--
May 5, 2008
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