Eastern Shore of Virginia
The Eastern Shore of Virginia is the easternmost region of the
History
Accomac Shire was established in the
In 1642, the name was changed to Northampton County. (In England, "shires" and "counties" are the same thing.) In 1663, Northampton County was split into two counties. The northern two thirds took the original Accomac name, while the southern third remained as Northampton.[2]
In 1670, the
Geography
The terrain is overall very flat, ranging from sea level to just 50 feet (15 m) above sea level. It is characterized by
The region has more than 78,000 acres of preserved parks, refuges, preserves and a national seashore and is a popular outdoor recreation destination for fishing, boating, hiking and kayaking. It is also an important birding hotspot along the
The area includes 70 miles of
Culture
Some maps of Virginia do not include the Eastern Shore.
It was a liminal place, a zone of interpenetration, where the settlement patterns, speech, demography, and political outcomes defined its place in the South but its engagement with technology and rapid transformation of the landscape betrayed other allegiances, motives, forces, and effects.[6]
Transportation
The 17.6-mile-long (28.3 km) Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel, which is part of U.S. Route 13, spans the mouth of the Bay and connects the Eastern Shore to South Hampton Roads and the rest of Virginia. Before the Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel was built in 1964, the Little Creek-Cape Charles Ferry provided the continuation of U.S. 13 across this stretch of water.
Media
The area is served by the weekly Eastern Shore Post and the monthly publication Eastern Shore First. The predominant radio station is WESR 103.3 FM, which operates the website ShoreDailyNews.com.
Politics
Year | Democratic | Republican | Others |
---|---|---|---|
2020
|
47.5% 11,245 | 51.2% 12,127 | 1.4% 322 |
2016
|
45.5% 9,995 | 51.3% 11,269 | 3.3% 722 |
2012
|
50.6% 11,396 | 48.3% 10,889 | 1.1% 257 |
2008
|
51.4% 11,407 | 47.5% 10,546 | 1.2% 256 |
2004
|
44.0% 8,293 | 55.1% 10,395 | 0.9% 167 |
2000
|
44.2% 7,432 | 51.4% 8,651 | 4.4% 734 |
1996
|
46.9% 7,789 | 40.8% 6,776 | 12.3% 2,037 |
1992
|
40.1% 7,518 | 41.4% 7,754 | 18.5% 3,471 |
1988
|
40.6% 6,685 | 57.6% 9,488 | 1.8% 296 |
1984
|
37.2% 6,581 | 62.0% 10,953 | 0.8% 139 |
1980
|
46.9% 7,235 | 48.8% 7,546 | 4.3% 670 |
1976
|
50.9% 7,266 | 45.8% 6,537 | 3.3% 468 |
1972
|
28.3% 3,652 | 70.3% 9,083 | 1.4% 184 |
1968
|
29.5% 3,885 | 35.3% 4,641 | 35.2% 4,629 |
1964
|
51.5% 5,044 | 48.3% 4,731 | 0.1% 11 |
1960
|
53.6% 4,731 | 46.0% 3,671 | 0.4% 31 |
The Eastern Shore is politically divided, with Accomack County generally voting for the Republican Party and Northampton County generally voting for the Democratic Party. As a whole, the Shore is generally a bellwether region, but also slightly tilts Republican owing to Accomack's larger share of the population. In the 2017 gubernatorial election, it gave 50.5% of the vote to Republican Ed Gillespie and 49.0% of the vote to Democrat Ralph Northam.[9]
It is represented in the
Transportation
Roads
Railroads
Airports
See also
- Battle of Kedges Strait – the last naval engagement of the American Revolutionary War
- Debedeavon
- Delmarva Peninsula
- Eastern Shore of Maryland
- Chincoteague Island, Virginia
References
- ^ "QuickFacts: Virginia, United States". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
- ^ a b "About the County". co.accomack.va.us. Accomack County. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
- ^ "Accomack County VA Archives". Archived from the original on 2012-10-28. Retrieved 2012-09-23.
- ^ "Accomack County - Geography of Virginia". Retrieved 2012-09-23.
- ^ "Virginia's Eastern Shore (AVA): Appellation Description", Appellation America, 2007, Retrieved Jan. 31, 2008
- ^ a b William G. Thomas, "The Countryside Transformed: The Eastern Shore of Virginia, the Pennsylvania Railroad, and the Creation of a Modern Landscape" Archived 2011-01-10 at the Wayback Machine, Southern Spaces, 31 July 2007
- ^ "What's At the Corners of Virginia?". Virginia Places. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
- ^ "Our Campaigns". Retrieved February 20, 2021.
- ^ "VA Governor". Our Campaigns. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
Further reading
- William G. Thomas "The Countryside Transformed:The Eastern Shore of Virginia, the Pennsylvania Railroad, and the Creation of a Modern Landscape" Southern Spaces, 31 July 2007.