North Side, South Side, All Around the Town:
The Boundaries of Chincoteague
by Rick Smith
As we celebrate the
100th Anniversary of the Town of Chincoteague this year, it seemed
appropriate to delve into the history of the original Town boundaries. These corporate limits set the area
within which the ordinances passed by the Council applied and over which the
Town held the right to tax the inhabitants; pretty important stuff if you want
your pigs to roam free and the Town prohibits such wanderings.
The present Town Charter
describes the growth of the Town in four incremental steps, from the original
lines set in 1908 to the present boundaries established in 1989. Today the Town
encompasses the entire Island plus the surrounding waters, from Queen Sound
Channel to the western shore of Assateague Island, from the Maryland-Virginia
line to Chincoteague Inlet. Most
maps of the area date from the 1930's and 1940's, and show the corporate limits as they were in 1942, when the Charter of the
Town was rewritten.
Surprisingly, there are no
maps in existence that show the original 1908 Town limits, and the details of
the process by which the Town grew to the lines described in 1942 are obscure. Key to these issues is locating
the original corporate limits, described in the 1908 Charter as:
Beginning at a point on the Bay Shore, at low water mark, opposite
the dividing line between the lands of Daniel J. Watson on the northeast and
David R. Watson on the southwest, and running thence in a southwest direction
along low water mark in Chincoteague Bay and Channel, to a point opposite
the northeast boundary line of the land of Ella Fish; thence along the northeast
boundary line of the said Ella Fish to a point two hundred (200) yards, southeast
of the Main County Shore road; thence in a northeast direction to the dividing
line between the lands of W. N. Conant and Mary A. Daisey; thence along the
southwest boundary line of W. N. Conant's said land to the canal; thence in
a northerly direction to the dividing line between the lands of Daniel J.
Watson on the northeast and David R. Watson on the southwest, aforesaid; thence
in a northwesterly direction along said last named dividing line, across the
Main County Shore road to the point of beginning on the Bay ShoreÓ
The problem, of
course, is that the properties in the description have changed hands many times
in the intervening century, and thus it is difficult to determine exactly where
they were.
The original southern*
boundary was the northern property line of Ella Fish. Mary Ella (Boston) Fish (1876-1911) married David Fish in
1895. David died in 1900 and Ella
married James D. Whealton (1863-1938) in 1909. The property in question is that of widow (in 1908) Ella
Fish, and its northern boundary turns out to be the south side of what is today
Boothe St. Two hundred yards east
of Main St. ends the southern boundary at a line followed north by the
Booth-Whealton Cemetery (lies between Main and Willow). This line then intersects the east-west
Town line shown on all of the maps as lying just south of present-day Howard
St. Admittedly a bit complicated,
but now we know the original southern Town limits. So, if you lived in Ticktown (the southern half of Willow
St.), your pigs could roam as they pleased.
The original northern boundary is easier. David R. and Daniel J. Watson were two
of the children of Robert and Henrietta Watson, and David's house (The Watson
House) still stands at the southern of the corner of Main and Poplar. So the original northern boundary of
the Town was Poplar Street.
(Daniel's house is another B&B, the Inn at Poplar Corner.)
The west and east limits of
the Town in 1908 were, respectively, Chincoteague Channel and the Glade
(otherwise noted as the Canal).
You can get a good idea of what (a tame version of) the Glade looked
like by driving east from Main St. on Bunting Rd. to the bridge over the
gut. Look north and south.
On March 13, 1942, the
General Assembly approved a revised Town Charter. In that document are listed two annexations to the Town, one
to the south and the other to the north.
(Listed as #1 and #2, respectively, in the Charter.) This document, however, raised two questions:
was General Assembly approval required for annexation, and when in the intervening
years since 1908 did these annexations occur?
The answer to the first is
found in the Acts of the Assembly.
Prior to 1902, all modifications to corporate boundaries required
Assembly approval. In 1902 the
State Constitution was altered to allow changes to the annexation
statutes. A moratorium on
annexations existed for two years until, in 1904, the Assembly gave towns and
involved counties the authority to enact corporate boundary changes. Annexation required consent of 51% of
the voters in the affected area and equitable compensation of the county for
any improvements they had made to the region. The town was required to provide services to its new
residents and had the authority to levy taxes.
A search of the town
Council records and Circuit Court documents at the County Courthouse reveals
the specifics of the two annexations.
On May 22, 1926, two annexation petitions were presented to the Town
Council. The first was under the
name of K. J. Bunting and was signed by 44 of 75 registered voters in the
proposed annex, which lay to the south of the original town. The second, under the name of A.J.
Hill, was signed by 38 of 52 registered voters of the area, which lay north of
the town. [The petitions, with all
the original signatures, still exist.]
On June 7, 1926 Mayor John W. Winder and Council Clerk C. F. Matthews
signed resolutions, passed by unanimous vote of the Town Council, to recommend
that the Circuit Court of Accomack County enter orders annexing both the
southern and northern areas.
Notice of the proposals appeared in the Peninsula Enterprise between May
22 and June 12, 1926. On June 15,
the County Board of Supervisors signed a document supporting the annexations,
and on June 22, 1926 the Accomack County Circuit Court, presided over by Judge
N.B. Wescott and two judges appointed by the Governor, Harry F. Byrd, heard
evidence presented by the affected parties, and found in favor of the
annexations. In doing so, they substantially increased the size of the Town,
expanding the population by roughly 50% and more than doubling the incorporated
area.
As an aside, on March 5, 1928 the town Council
appointed John W. Winder and J. S Baker Òto appear before the General Assembly
on behalf of the annexation bill.Ó
No reason is stated, no further mention is made of this overture, and no
action of the Assembly is recorded.
Since the official Charter contained a description of the Town
boundaries, it is possible that the unfulfilled request was to modify the
Charter to include the 1926 annexations.
That addition, however, did not occur until the Charter was completely
fully revised March 10, 1942.
Adjacent to the original
corporate limits, the annexes are easy to plot. The southern was a slight dogleg, roughly 200 yards wide,
extending from just south of Beebe St. (in the words of the petition: Òa point fifty (50) yards to the southwest of the southwest
boundary of Fred Bowden's land Ó) to the original southern town line,
plus the west side of lower Willow Street. On the north, the annex simply expanded the town northward
to a line just south of the present high school parking lot (Òalong the center of a private roadway across the lands of the late
Joshua W. Whealton, as it now exists, the same running between the dwelling
houses of the late Joshua W. Whealton and the one now occupied by Sidney
DaiseyÓ), about 120 yards north of Daisey St.
The accompanying modified
1964 USGS map shows the original Town boundaries (1908), and the southern (1)
and northern (2) annexes.
Old time Teaguers
apparently felt no pressing need to have such a map. After all, everyone knew where Joshua Whealton, Fred Bowden
and Ella Fish lived. So why would
you need a map? Well, needed or
not, we now have one.
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*Since the long axis of Chincoteague Island lies
on a NE to SW line, directions involve complex ÒdiagonalÓ points on the
compass. Islanders have long since
simplified the issue with the shorthand:
Northeast = north (up the Island), Southeast = east, Southwest = south
(down the Island), and Northwest = west.
** Population of the Town was 1418 in 1920 and
2301 in 1930, a 62.2% increase. Original area ~210 acres, southern annex ~119
acres, and northern annex 192 acres.
Therefore, the area increased from ~210 acres to ~521 acres, or an
increase of ~143.8%.
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The author is indebted to the assistance of
Brent Hurdle, County Tax Assessor, Mayor Jack Tarr, and Karen Hipple in
preparing this article.
The following is a description of the Boundaries
of the Town of Chincoteague that appeared in the 1942 revised Charter.
Beginning at a point on the Bay
Shore, at low water mark, opposite the dividing line between the lands of
Daniel J. Watson on the northeast and David R. Watson on the southwest, and
running thence in a southwest direction along low water mark in Chincoteague
Bay and Channel, to a point opposite the northeast boundary line of the land of
Ella Fish; thence along the northeast boundary line of the said Ella Fish to a
point two hundred (200) yards, southeast of the Main County Shore road; thence
in a northeast direction to the dividing line between the lands of W. N. Conant
and Mary A. Daisey; thence along the southwest boundary line of W. N. Conant's
said land to the canal; thence in a northerly direction to the dividing line
between the lands of Daniel J. Watson on the northeast and David R. Watson on
the southwest, aforesaid; thence in a northwesterly direction along said last
named dividing line, across the Main County Shore road to the point of beginning
on the Bay Shore,—the said description being as of March thirteenth,
nineteen hundred and eight, and being also the boundary of the said Town of
Chincoteague as set forth in an Act of the General Assembly, approved March
thirteenth, nineteen hundred and eight, entitled "An act to incorporate
the Town of Chincoteague, Accomack County," and there is included within
the corporate limits the following territory:
1st. Beginning at the southwestern
corner of the above boundary of the Town of Chincoteague and running in a
southwesterly direction along low water mark to a point fifty (50) yards to the
southwest of the southwest boundary of Fred Bowden's land, on which he now
lives, thence south forty-five (45) degrees east, according to the magnetic
variations existing today, to a point two hundred (200) yards southeast of the
southeast edge of the Main County or Shore road, thence from said point in a
straight line in a northeast direction to a point fifty (50) feet northwest of
the north corner of Greenwood cemetery, the said point being on the southwest
edge of the Bunting County road, thence in a northeast direction across said
Bunting road to the northeast edge thereof, thence in a southeast direction to
the north corner of the intersection of Willow street and the said Bunting
road, thence in a northeast direction along the northwest edge of Willow street
to a point where the present southern corporate limits of the Town of
Chincoteague now crosses Willow street, the said point being on the northwest
edge of said Willow street, thence following the present southern boundary of
the Town of Chincoteague to the point of beginning, - the above description
being a verbatim description of the extension of the corporate limits of the
Town of Chincoteague as annexed on the day of
, nineteen hundred , by the Circuit Court of Accomack County, Virginia,
in the petition of Kendell J. Bunting and others to annex territory, et cetera,
to the Town of Chincoteague; and
2nd. Beginning at the northwestern corner of the present boundary
of the Town of Chincoteague, at low water mark, it being the dividing line
between the lands owned by David Watson and Daniel Watson, thence running in a
northeasterly direction along ordinary low water mark to a point opposite the
land occupied by the late Joshua W. Whealton, thence in a southeasterly
direction along the center of a private roadway across the lands of the late
Joshua W. Whealton, as it now exists, the same running between the dwelling
houses of the late Joshua W. Whealton and the one now occupied by Sidney Daisey
in a straight direction across the Deep Hole County road to the canal; thence
in a southwest direction along said canal to the corporate limits of the Town
of Chincoteague, it being a point also that separates the land of David Watson
and Daniel Watson, thence in a northwest direction following the northern
boundary of the present Town of Chincoteague to low water mark, the point of
beginning,-the above description being a verbatim description of the territory
which was annexed to the Town of Chincoteague in the petition of A. J. Hill and
others to annex territory, et cetera, to the Town of Chincoteague.
3rd. Beginning at a point on the centerline of State Route 175,
said point being the intersection of the centerline of Route 175 east entering
the Island and the present Corporate Limit. From this point in a northern
direction along the Corporate Limit to the point of intersection with the
northern right-of-way of Route 175 entering the Island. Thence westerly along
the northern right-of-way of Route 175 approximately 12,000 feet to a point
where the right-of-way crosses the center of Queen Sound Channel. Then
following the center of Queen Sound Channel in a northwesterly direction
approximately 2,500 feet to a point where the channel divides, from this point
in a northeasterly direction across Chincoteague Bay to a point on the
Virginia/ Maryland state line, said point being approximately 25,400 feet west
of the intersection of the Virginia/Maryland state boundary and the mean low
water line on the western side of Assateague Island. Then from said point in an
easterly direction along the Virginia/Maryland state boundary, to a point being
the intersection of the Virginia/Maryland state boundary and the westernmost
mean low water line on Assateague Island. Then from said point in a southerly
direction following the mean low water line to the western tip of Fishing Point
the line crosses Chincoteague Inlet to a point being the westernmost point of
the mean low water line on Chincoteague Point near Hammock Point Light. Then
extending this line from said point in a northwesterly direction, approximately
3,000 feet to the middle of Queen Sound Channel, then from said point along the
middle of Queen Sound Channel to its intersection with the southern
right-of-way of Route 175. Then following the southern right-of-way eastward to
its intersection with the present Corporate Limit, then from this point
northward along the Corporate Limit to the point of beginning.
It is the purpose of the three above descriptions to include all lands within the present boundaries of said town according to the Charter of said town and the annexation proceedings of Kendall J. Bunting and others and the annexation proceedings of A. J. Hill and others as found among the records in the clerk's office of the circuit court for the County of Accomack, Virginia.