Half a century ago, there were four oyster shucking houses, employing hundreds, three groceries and a hotel. Then, the long, steep decline. Today, the year-round population is no more than 50, replaced by vacationers and weekend fishermen. The dominant player in town now is the Nature Conservancy, the international conservation organization that owns the barrier islands and several sites in the harbor. The Conservancy is working on the old Coast Guard Station, which it floated over from Cobb Island.
Plans are to use it as an environmental education center.
At the north end of the harbor stands a large Victorian farm house where the University of Virginia puts up scientists who study the long-term ecology of barrier islands. Out on the mudflats , the tide is running, fast. What was enough water an hour ago to anchor a small skiff is suddenly high and dry. And still the water, with an extra push from a whistling wind, retreats like fading memories. Marvin Donnell and assistant Chris Caison have motored about 10 miles out from Oyster to the clam bed.