#accomack

Mount Wharton, near Accomack, Virginia. HABS photo, Library of Congress ( HABS VA,1-____,3--1)

Survey notes: “Main house approx. 25 x 50 feet and has cellar. South end gable…of brick. This end in ruins July 1940. Scalloped shingles on main hose and [south] wing.” 

Later additions on early houses are quite common, and Eastern Shore houses often have “telescoping” series of added rooms, making the houses much longer than they are deep. Mount Wharton shows a good example of that trend. The addition likely represents one or more  18th or 19th century add-ons to the core 18th century building.  Note the exposed frame and rafters in the ruined section of the building and also the small outbuilding behind.

In 1641, the Accomac Indians, an Algonquin-speaking tribe located on the Eastern shore and part of the group collectively referred to as Powhatan Indians, became known as the Gingaskins when they accepted a patent from the English government for the remaining 1,500 acres of their ancestral lands on the ocean side of Northampton County. Various legal and boundary struggles with their English neighbors over the years reduced the lands reserved for the Gingaskins to 650 acres, which was patented again in 1680.

Over the years, Indian lands were often leased to outsiders by the state and county governments in order to “help support” Gingaskin members, most of whom chose to maintain a traditional lifestyle and not farm the lands. Great concern was exhibited by white neighbors about the Gingaskins intermarrying with free negroes and charges were made in petitions to the General Assembly in 1784 and 1787 that there were no more “real” Indians left on the reservation and therefore the land should be given to whites who could “better protect it”, by which they meant farm it in the traditional English way.

county seat: accomac population: 33,413

i really like how the county was originally spelled "accomac" with no k, like the county seat, then in 1940 the county council just kinda added a k at the end for no reason at all wikipedia has a whole page for historic places in the county, idk how common that is bc this is only my third county but it's pretty interesting. it lists 29, with most of them being just old buildings or churches, but there's also a lighthouse so that's cool can't tell whether the county seat and county name being 1 letter off is very funny or very annoying but i'm gonna err on the side of very funny + lighthouses and other old buildings are cool

Mount Wharton, near Accomack, Virginia. HABS photo, Library of Congress ( HABS VA,1-____,3--1)

From July, 1940, survey: “MOUNT WHARTON. Owner- Toby Lane, [of] Temperanceville, Va. Erected late 18th C. Present condition dilapidated…1 ½ st. frame sides; brick ends.”

National Weather Service Issue Coastal Flood Warning For Northampton; Accomack

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a coastal flood warning for Northampton; Accomack starting on 9/13/2018 1:53:00 PM. NWS estimates this event is ‘likely’ to happen and the event is categorized as ‘severe.’ (more…)

Coastal Flood Warning Issued By The National Weather Service For Accomack

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a coastal flood warning for Accomack starting on 9/10/2018 2:42:00 AM. NWS estimates this event is ‘likely’ to happen and the event is categorized as ‘severe.’ (more…)