page_title: History of Chincoteague, Virginia
section_title: Entering the modern era (1908–46)
hierarchical_section_title: History of Chincoteague, Virginia / Entering the modern era (1908–46)
caption_attribution_description: Picture side of 1941-postmarked postcard depicting the Chincotegue ponies.
context_page_description: 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.
  Use of Chincoteague Island by European settlers began in the 17th century, when the island was granted to a Virginia colonist. Legal disputes followed, and it was not until 1691 that title was determined by the courts. Although a few people were living on the island by 1700, it was primarily used as a place to graze livestock. This was probably the origin of the Chincoteague ponies, feral horses that long roamed in the area. They are no longer present in the wild on Chincoteague Island. During the American Revolutionary War, the islanders supported the new nation's bid for independence. The local fishing and seafood resources began to be systematically exploited in the early 19th century.
context_section_description: In the early 20th century, according to Mariner, Chincoteague "was a curious mixture of the progressive and the primitive, of worldly-wise townsfolk and isolated country people". Beginning in about 1900, the residents sought to be incorporated as a  town.  Gaining a municipal charter from the General Assembly would allow ordinances to be passed to keep livestock off the streets without seeking redress from the state government in Richmond or the county government in Accomac. In 1908, the legislature incorporated part of the island as the Town of Chincoteague, and on July 4, A. Frank Matthews became the first mayor.
  The 1910 United States Census showed a population of 3,295 for the island, of whom 1,419 lived in the town. Few resided in the interior of the island; most lived in single-family houses, facing the water across roads that ran just above the high tide line.  The population of the island had increased to about 3,600 as of 1916; there were about 100 African-Americans, all of whom lived on the same part of the island. Most islanders of working age were part of or supported the seafood trade.  At that time, most houses got their water from shallow-dug wells, located in many cases close by primitive privies. Water from such wells was also used to wash the oysters and to make ice to preserve them. Almost all Chincoteague oysters were sent out of state, and the federal Public Health Service intervened in 1916 to get the mayor and town council to order improved sanitation, with islanders living outside the town line agreeing to abide by the ordinances.
  Although dwarfed in population by the neighboring island, Assateague was still populated by a few families.  A penning was still held on Assateague along with one on Chincoteague, but the Assateague event was suspended after 1920 as the largest landowner refused to allow access. Beginning in 1923, the Assateague herd was transported to Chincoteague for a joint penning, most likely by boat, as the idea of swimming the ponies had not yet been adopted. The refusal of the Assateague landowner to allow islanders to cross his land made it difficult for them to get to work, and Assateague became depopulated, with most of the buildings disassembled and rebuilt on Chincoteague Island. Most of Assateague Island was sold to the federal government in 1943.
  In 1919, John B. Whealton, Chincoteague-born though a Florida resident, persuaded the Virginia General Assembly to grant a charter to his Chincoteague Toll Road and Bridge Company to build a causeway from the mainland to the island. Whealton submitted the winning bid to build the causeway as well as gaining the charter for his company to operate it.  The road was originally a toll crossing, and early plans had it reaching the island south of downtown, near the site of today's Carnival Grounds, but Whealton persuaded the town council to have the terminal point be downtown, near the Atlantic Hotel, the island's largest. The road was close to completion when a major fire destroyed much of downtown, including the hotel, on February 5, 1920.  There was then only a small, ill-equipped fire company in Chincoteague, and the fire was fought by men of the Coast Guard from the stations near the island. The hotel was underinsured and not rebuilt, though others took its place, and the council took advantage of the disaster to straighten Main Street.  The fire and poor weather in the winters of 1921 and 1922 delayed the causeway, which was officially opened on November 15, 1922, by Virginia Governor E. Lee Trinkle. Most vehicles on the first day wound up mired in mud once a downpour turned the causeway into a quagmire.  Nevertheless, the causeway proved a success, and by year's end over 100 vehicles were crossing it on an average day. Water from mainland wells was piped along the causeway, allowing the town to offer running water.
  The second devastating fire in four years destroyed much of downtown Chincoteague on February 25, 1924, and caused the town's leaders to conclude that a better-organized volunteer fire department was needed to replace
caption: The ponies are paraded through downtown Chincoteague on this postcard postmarked 1941
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