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30-943: It presently comprises 20 school districts in Hampton Roads and the Eastern Shore of Virginia : Accomack , Gloucester , Isle of Wight , Mathews , Middlesex , Sussex , Southampton , Northampton and York counties, Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools , and the independent cities of Norfolk, Hampton , Franklin , Newport News , Portsmouth , Chesapeake , Virginia Beach , Suffolk and Poquoson . The stations under its umbrella are Hampton Roads' PBS member station, WHRO-TV (channel 15, Hampton/Norfolk), NPR news/talk/jazz/folk station WHRV (89.5 FM, Norfolk) and all- classical music WHRO-FM (90.3 FM, Norfolk). They also operate numerous repeater stations across Virginia, four of which repeat WHRV and two of which repeat WHRO-FM. HRETA traces its roots to 1961, when WHRO-TV went on

60-474: A competitive region, but also leans Republican owing to Accomack's larger share of the population. It voted against the presidential winner in 2020 and 1992. Also, Democrats won Virginia in 2016, 2020, and 2024, but lost the Eastern Shore each time. 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 , with Northam winning

90-615: A historic railroad town, is home to the Cape Charles Yacht Center, a super yacht service center. The town of Wachapreague on the Atlantic coast is a popular destination for fishing and guided trips out to the wild barrier islands. Onancock , a harbor town on the Chesapeake Bay, has a ferry service to Tangier Island , off the western shore in the Chesapeake Bay, during spring, summer and fall. Some maps of Virginia do not include

120-541: Is Accomack . The terrain is overall very flat, ranging from sea level to just 50 feet (15 m) above sea level. It is characterized by sandy and deep soil. The weather in the area has temperate summers and winters, significantly affected by the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean . The rural area has long been devoted to cotton , soybean , vegetable and truck farming , and large-scale chicken farms. Since

150-575: Is a United States county located in the eastern edge of the Commonwealth of Virginia . Together, Accomack and Northampton counties make up the Eastern Shore of Virginia , which in turn is part of the Delmarva Peninsula , bordered by the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean . Accomac is the county seat . The Eastern Shore of Virginia was known as " Accomac Shire ," until it was renamed Northampton County in 1642. The present Accomack County

180-660: 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. STAR Transit provides public transit services for both Accomack and Northampton counties, serving both with fixed-route bus and paratransit operations. The area

210-411: Is served by Accomack County Public Schools . It is the only school district in the county. High schools and K-12 schools in this district are: Eastern Shore Community College is located near Melfa . The county maintains and is the licensee of six television translator stations on two towers, with four located on a tower off US 13 in unincorporated Mappsville licensed to Onancock, and

240-570: Is served by the weekl y 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. 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

270-579: Is the easternmost region of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States . It consists of two counties ( Accomack and Northampton ) on the Atlantic coast. It is detached from the mainland of Virginia by the Chesapeake Bay . The 70-mile-long (110 km) region is part of the Delmarva Peninsula . Its population was 45,695 as of 2020. Accomac Shire was established in the Virginia Colony by

300-677: The Atlantic Flyway at the southernmost tip of the Delmarva Peninsula. There are public beaches at Cape Charles , Kiptopeke State Park , Savage Neck Dunes Natural Area Preserve , Tangier Island and the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge abutting the Assateague Island National Seashore . The area includes 70 miles of barrier islands , the longest chain of undeveloped barrier islands in

330-505: The English colonists called the "Laughing King." He became a staunch ally of the colonists, granting them several large areas for their own use. Accomac Shire was established in 1634 as one of the eight original shires of Virginia . The name comes from the native word Accawmacke, which meant "on the other side". In 1642 the name was changed to Northampton by the colonists. Northampton was divided into two counties in 1663. The northern adopted

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360-534: The House of Burgesses in 1634 under the direction of King Charles I . It was one of the original eight shires of Virginia , and consisted of the whole of Virginia's Delmarva territory. The shire's name comes from the Native American word Accawmack, which means, "the other shore". In 1642, the name was changed to Northampton County . (In England, "shires" and "counties" are the same thing.) In 1663, Northampton County

390-544: The Eastern Shore during the late 19th and early 20th century as "a highly complex and interdependent landscape". He continues: 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. The 17.6-mile-long (28.3 km) Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel , which

420-472: The Eastern Shore. Encyclopedia Virginia ' s logo began depicting the region in 2018, after the inauguration of Ralph Northam , the second Governor of Virginia from the Eastern Shore. Geographically removed from the rest of Virginia, it has had a unique history of settlement and development influenced by agriculture, fishing, tourism, and the Pennsylvania Railroad . William G. Thomas describes

450-635: The United States Board on Geographical Names in 1943. According to the U.S. Census Bureau , the county has a total area of 1,310 square miles (3,400 km ), of which 450 square miles (1,200 km ) is land and 861 square miles (2,230 km ) (65.7%) is water. It is the largest county in Virginia by total area. The state of Delaware is roughly 36 miles (58 km) away from the Virginia and Maryland state-line in Greenbackville. As of 2022,

480-564: The Virginia Senate, Republican Robert Bloxom in the Virginia House of Delegates, and Republican Jen Kiggans in the U.S. House of Representatives. Accomack County is home to large chicken processing facilities owned by Perdue Farms and Tyson Foods . STAR Transit provides public transit services for both Accomack and Northampton counties and is headquartered in Tasley . The county

510-429: The age of 18 living with them, 49.20% were married couples living together, 14.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.10% were non-families. 27.70% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 2.96. In the county, the population was spread out, with 24.30% under

540-503: The age of 18, 8.20% from 18 to 24, 26.20% from 25 to 44, 24.70% from 45 to 64, and 16.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 94.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.00 males. Accomack and adjacent Northampton County are the two poorest counties in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Accomack County is represented by Republican William “Bill” DeSteph, Jr in

570-664: The air as a collaboration between the Norfolk and Hampton school systems. They were joined by the school systems in the independent cities of Newport News, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Suffolk, as well as Nansemond , York and Isle of Wight counties. In 1968, the 10 school boards formed the Hampton Roads Educational Television Associations to operate channel 15. HRETA had its mission broadened to radio in 1975, when it bought then two-year-old WTGM, Hampton Roads' NPR member station. A year later, HRETA

600-433: The county was 65.3% White , 28.1% Black or African American , 0.4% Native American , 0.6% Asian , 0.1% Pacific Islander , 3.9% from other races , and 1.6% from two or more races. 8.6% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Black or African American (28%), English American (15%), German (9%), Irish (9%) and Mexican (4%) . There were 15,299 households, out of which 28.90% had children under

630-536: The election statewide. It is represented in the U.S. House of Representatives by Republican Jen Kiggans , in the Virginia Senate by Democrat Lynwood Lewis , and in the Virginia House of Delegates by Republican Robert Bloxom Jr. 37°34′52.2″N 75°47′14.9″W  /  37.581167°N 75.787472°W  / 37.581167; -75.787472 Accomack County, Virginia Accomack County

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660-413: The global temperate zone and a United Nations International Biosphere Reserve. At the northern end of the Atlantic side is the beach community of Chincoteague , famous for its annual wild pony roundup , gathered from Assateague Island . Wallops Flight Facility , a NASA space launch base, is located near Chincoteague. At the southern end of the Chesapeake Bay coast, the beach community of Cape Charles ,

690-399: The late 20th century, vineyards have been developed in both counties, and the Eastern Shore has received recognition as an American Viticultural Area (AVA). 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

720-412: The median household income in the county is $ 50,601 and the per capita income is $ 29,202. As of the census of 2010, there were 33,164 people, 15,299 households, and 10,388 families residing in the county. The population density was 84 people per square mile (32 people/km ). There were 19,550 housing units at an average density of 43 units per square mile (17 units/km ). The racial makeup of

750-578: The original name, while the south remained Northampton. In 1670, the Virginia Colony 's Royal Governor William Berkeley abolished Accomac County, but the Virginia General Assembly re-created it in 1671. In 1940, the General Assembly officially added a "k" to the end of the county's name to arrive at its current spelling. The name of "Accomack County" first appeared in the Decisions of

780-643: The other two licensed to unincorporated Craddockville on a tower near Route 178 . Each translator tower has four signals to relay the signals of Hampton Roads's major network affiliates to the county, including WAVY , WHRO , WTKR , and WVEC . Meanwhile, Fox programming via WVBT is provided by WPMC-CA (Channel 36) from the Mappsville tower, a station owned by Nexstar Media Group , the parent company of WAVY/WVBT. Additionally, Salisbury, Maryland CBS / Fox affiliate WBOC-TV has long claimed Accomack County as part of its coverage area. In Sydney Brown's lyrics for

810-514: Was created from Northampton County in 1663. The county and the original shire were named for the Accawmack Indians, who resided in the area when the English first explored it in 1603. As of the 2020 census , the total population was 33,413 people. The population of Accomack has remained relatively stable over the 20th century, though Accomack is one of the poorest parts of Virginia. The county

840-563: Was named for its original residents, the Accomac people , an Eastern Algonquian -speaking Native American tribe. Members of an English voyage of exploration landed in the area in 1603, four years before the founding of the Jamestown Colony . Captain John Smith visited the region in 1608. The Accomac people at the time numbered around 6,000 and was led by Debedeavon , a paramount chief , whom

870-561: Was reorganized under its current name, with the "T" now standing for Telecommunications. WTGM changed its call letters to WHRO-FM in 1978. As early as 1983, HRETA concluded a second public radio station could be viable. However, it took until 1990 to bring that station online, on 90.3. The new station took over all classical music programming, as well as the WHRO-FM call letters. NPR programming remained on 89.5 under new calls, WHRV. Eastern Shore of Virginia The Eastern Shore of Virginia

900-417: Was split into two counties. The northern two thirds took the original Accomac name, while the southern third remained as Northampton. In 1670, the Virginia Colony 's Royal Governor William Berkeley abolished Accomac County, but the Virginia General Assembly re-created it in 1671. In 1940, the General Assembly officially added a "k" to the end of the county's name to arrive at its current spelling, which

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