Chincoteague is a town in Accomack County, Virginia, U.S. The town includes the whole of Chincoteague Island and an area of adjacent water. The population was 2,941 at the 2010 census. The town is known for the Chincoteague Ponies, although these are not actually on the island of Chincoteague but on nearby Assateague Island. These ponies and the annual Pony Penning Day are the subject of Marguerite Henry's 1947 children's book Misty of Chincoteague, which was made into the 1961 family film Misty, filmed on location.
The Eastern Shore of Virginia consists of two counties on the Atlantic coast detached from the mainland of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The 70-mile-long (110 km) region is part of the Delmarva Peninsula and is separated from the rest of Virginia by the Chesapeake Bay. Its population was 45,553 as of 2010.
Assateague Island National Seashore is a unit of the National Park Service system of the U.S. Department of the Interior. Located on the East Coast along the Atlantic Ocean in Maryland and Virginia, Assateague Island is the largest natural barrier island ecosystem in the Middle Atlantic states region that remains predominantly unaffected by human development. Located within a three-hour drive to the east and south of the Richmond, Washington, Baltimore, Wilmington, Philadelphia major metropolitan areas plus north of the several clustered smaller cities around Hampton Roads harbor of Virginia with Newport News, Hampton, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake and Virginia Beach. The National Seashore offers a setting in which to experience a dynamic barrier island and to pursue a multitude of recreational opportunities. The stated mission of the park is to preserve and protect “unique coastal resources and the natural ecosystem conditions and processes upon which they depend, provide high-quality resource-based recreational opportunities compatible with resource protection and educate the public as to the values and significance of the area”.
Assateague Light is the 142-foot-tall (43 m) lighthouse located on the southern end of Assateague Island off the coast of the Virginia Eastern Shore, United States.
The lighthouse is located within the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge and can be accessed by road from Chincoteague Island over the Assateague Channel. It is owned by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and operated by the U.S. Coast Guard and is still used as an active aid in navigation. The keeper's quarters are used as seasonal housing for refuge temporary employees, volunteers, and interns. Constructed in 1867 to replace a shorter lighthouse 45-foot-tall (14 m) built in 1833, the lighthouse is conical in shape and is painted in alternating bands of red and white.
The Chincoteague Pony, also known as the Assateague horse, is a breed of horse that developed and lives in a feral condition on Assateague Island in the United States states of Virginia and Maryland. The breed was made famous by the Misty of Chincoteague series of novels written by Marguerite Henry starting in 1947. While phenotypically horse-like, they are commonly called "ponies". This is due in part to their smaller stature, created by the poor habitat on Assateague Island. Variation is found in their physical characteristics due to blood from different breeds being introduced at various points in their history. They can be any solid color, and are often found in pinto patterns, which are a favorite with breed enthusiasts. Island Chincoteagues live on a diet of salt marsh plants and brush. This poor-quality and often scarce food combined with uncontrolled inbreeding created a propensity for conformation faults in the Chincoteague before outside blood was added beginning in the early 20th century.
State Route 175 is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. Known as Chincoteague Road, the state highway runs 10.49 miles (16.88 km) from U.S. Route 13 at Nash Corner east to Main Street in Chincoteague. SR 175 passes through the northeastern corner of Accomack County, providing the primary access to NASA's Wallops Flight Facility and both Chincoteague Island and the Virginia portion of Assateague Island. The route travels between the mainland and Chincoteague Island along the John B. Whealton Memorial Causeway.
Chincoteague High School is a public high school in Accomack County, Virginia. It serves grades six through twelve and, due to its low number of students, has only approximately fifty students per grade. Its mascot, the pony, is named after the feral Chincoteague Ponies on the nearby Assateague Island.
Chincoteague Bay is a lagoon between the Atlantic barrier islands of Assateague and Chincoteague and the mainland of Worcester County, Maryland and northern Accomack County, Virginia. At the bay's northern end, where it narrows between Assateague and Sinepuxent Neck, it becomes Sinepuxent Bay; Chincoteague Bay's southern end drains into the Atlantic Ocean via Queen Sound and Chincoteague Inlet. No major river flows into Chincoteague Bay—its largest tributaries are Newport Creek in Worcester County and Swans Gut Creek in Accomack County.
The Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge is a 14,000-acre (57 km2) wildlife preserve operated by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. It is primarily located on the Virginia half of Assateague Island with portions located on the Maryland side of the island, as well as Morris Island and Wildcat Marsh. The refuge contains a large variety of wildlife animals and birds, including the Chincoteague Pony. The purpose of the refuge is to maintain, regulate and preserve animal and plant species as well as their habitats for present and future generations.
The Museum of Chincoteague Island, located at 7125 Maddox Boulevard, Chincoteague, Virginia, United States, celebrates the people, culture and heritage of Chincoteague Island.
Assateague Channel is a channel on the Eastern Shore of Virginia between Chincoteague Island and Assateague Island. The Assateague Channel connects to Assateague Bay to the northeast and Chincoteague Inlet to the southwest.
Chincoteague Channel is a channel on the Eastern Shore of Virginia between marshlands to the northwest and Chincoteague Island to the southeast. The Chincoteague Channel connects to Chincoteague Bay to the northeast and Chincoteague Inlet to the southwest.
The John B. Whealton Memorial Causeway, more commonly known to the locals as the Chincoteague Causeway, connects the mainland of the Eastern Shore to Chincoteague, where it continues into town as Maddox Boulevard. The causeway is part of State Route 175. The causeway contains five bridges and crosses the following :
The Chincoteague Fire Department is a historic U.S. building located at 4026/4028 Main Street, Chincoteague Island, Virginia. This building was initially constructed in 1930 and expanded in 1957.
The Island Theatre is a historic U.S. building located at 4074 Main Street, Chincoteague, Virginia. It still serves as an operational movie theater.
Mosquito Creek is a stream in Chincoteague, Virginia that connects with Cockle Creek to the south and a mouth at Chincoteague Bay to the North.
Cockle Creek is a 3.5-mile-long (5.6 km) stream in Chincoteague, Virginia between Chincoteague Inlet to the south and Chincoteague Bay to the north. It was the site of a naval battle during the Civil War, the Battle of Cockle Creek.
The history of human activity in Chincoteague, on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, begins with the Native Americans. Until European settlers possessed the island in the late 17th century, the Chincoteague Indians used it as a place to gather shellfish, but are not known to have lived there; Chincoteague Island lacked suitable soil for their agriculture. The island's name derives from those early visitors: by one popular tale, chincoteague meant "Beautiful land across the water" in their language.
