Tom Badger - Accomack County

Water has always been the common denominator of life in Accomack County. Years ago, Native Americans gathered shellfish on tidal flats, caught sturgeon in weirs, and traded goods with other Indian nations using bays, rivers, and creeks as avenues of commerce.

Europeans arrived shortly after the Jamestown settlement of 1607, exploring the Eastern Shore peninsula by boat and eventually establishing permanent settlements. Fish and shellfish from Accomack fed the young colony, and salt distilled from seawater was a valuable preservative, enabling the settlers to survive winters when food was scarce.

So the waters surrounding Accomack provided both food and transportation. When inland settlements began and people started clearing land to grow crops, the produce was moved to market by ships that docked at many wharfs on seaside and bayside creeks. Most of these exist now as place-names only. Some examples are Pitts Wharf in northern Accomack, Boggs Wharf and Evans Wharf on Pungoteague Creek, Finneys Wharf on Onancock, Davis Wharf on Occohannock Creek, and Burtons Shore on the seaside.

After the railroad came through, people depended less on waterways for transportation, but the seafood industry in Accomack gained national attention. Salty Chincoteague oysters made the island famous. Terrapin stew was such a hit in city restaurants it nearly drove the animal to extinction, and speedy rail travel and refrigerated cars ushered in a new product for the seafood industry, freshly processed crab meat and soft crabs. The railroad also ushered in an era of tourism, with Northern visitors flocking to the sandy beaches in the summer and coming in winter for the superb waterfowl hunting.

Working on the water is still a way of life in Accomack, but most local residents think of a day in the boat as recreation. Sportfishing is an important aspect of tourism, and popular beaches such as Assateague draw hundreds of thousands of people each year. Visitors no longer come by rail, but the attraction has not changed. Few places in the East offer miles of ocean beach, great expanses of salt meadows, and plentiful seafood there just for the taking.

The clubhouse at Wallops was a rambling, two-story frame building. Accessory structures included staff housing, stables, boathouses, and a large pier and wharf. William Conant of Chincoteague was awarded an $8,000 contract to build the clubhouse in the summer of 1890. The consortium paid $8,000 for Wallops Island, which at that time was about a mile wide and 7 miles long. (Stout family, courtesy of NASA Wallops.)

Guests at the Wallops Island Club traveled by the dune buggy of their time. The club had a flock of about 300 sheep, 100 ponies, and various other livestock. Nearby Chincoteague Island is famous for its annual pony penning, but in those days, Wallops had a similar event of its own. Newspapers advertised a sheep penning in June 1888, with a large number of sheep and lambs to be offered for sale. (Stout family, courtesy of NASA Wallops.)

Dinner at the club usually featured fresh seafood, and guests of all ages participated in gathering it. Wallops was one of three clubs on the seaside of Accomack County in the 1890s. Others included the Accomack Club and the Revels Island Club, both near Wachapreague. Guests enjoyed fishing in the summer months and waterfowl hunting in winter. (Stout family, courtesy of NASA Wallops.)

On the menu tonight are sea trout, croakers, and possibly spot. While club guests helped gather the catch, the kitchen duties were left to the paid staff, who lived full-time on the island during the summer season. The everyday business of the club was conducted by a manager. One of the longest tenured was Benjamin Franklin Scott, who served until 1906, when he left to open a dairy business on Chincoteague. (Stout family, courtesy of NASA Wallops.)

Toy collectors would be envious of the Steiff bears on display in this photograph. A visit to the Wallops Island Club was the highlight of the summer season for the children of club members. In many cases, wives and children would come to the island for the entire summer, while the men attended to business in the city, taking breaks of a week or two to enjoy the shore. (Stout family, courtesy of NASA Wallops.)