Chincoteague, Virginia

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Chincoteague, VA


Incorporated	1908
State	Virginia
County	Accomack
Mayor	John H. Tarr
http://www.chincoteague-va.gov/

Chincoteague (IPA: /ˈʃiŋ.kəˌtig/) is a town in Accomack County, Virginia, United States. The population was 4,317 at the 2000 census. The town is perhaps best known for its feral ponies, although these are not actually on the island of Chincoteague but on the nearby Assateague Island. Also relating to Chincoteague is Marguerite Henry's book Misty of Chincoteague, which is about Chincoteague's annual Pony Penning Day. It was made into the 1961 film Misty, which was filmed on-location, and has become an all-time favorite family film.

In this event, which has been held since 1925, horses swim across the shallow water between the islands. If any animal is too small or weak to make the swim, they are placed on a barge and ferried over. All the horses are herded into large pens after running through the middle of town and down Main Street. The Pony Penning takes place on the last consecutive Wednesday & Thursday in July. The actual swim will occur on Wednesday, and the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Department auctions off that year's foals on Thursday, and on Friday the remaining ponies swim back to Assateague. Legend has it that the ponies on Assateague are descendants of survivors of a Spanish galleon that sank on its way to Mexico during a storm off the coast of the island.

The breed has come to be called Chincoteague Ponies.

The cover of Marguerite Henry's Misty of Chincoteague

In 1962, a major Nor'easter winter storm, the Ash Wednesday Storm, struck Chincoteague and Assateague Islands. The town was completely underwater, and went for days without electricity. Almost all structures on nearby Assateague Island, where development was just beginning were destroyed. (The real Misty of children's book and film fame survived by being brought inside the Beebe family's house, where she gave birth to a foal named "Stormy" shortly later).

Possibly due to a combination of publicity from the Misty books and movie and the damage from the 1962 storm, most of Assateague Island was preserved from development as Assateague Island National Seashore in 1965.

[edit] Geography

Chincoteague is located at 37°56′5″N, 75°22′4″W (37.934673, -75.367805)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 96.0 km² (37.1 mi²). 24.9 km² (9.6 mi²) of it is land and 71.1 km² (27.4 mi²) of it (74.02%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 4,317 people, 2,068 households, and 1,244 families residing in the town. The population density was 173.1/km² (448.2/mi²). There were 3,970 housing units at an average density of 159.2/km² (412.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 96.92% White, 0.95% African American, 0.28% Native American, 0.28% Asian, 0.37% from other races, and 1.20% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.53% of the population.

A deer walks along the Snow Goose Pool in the Assateague Island National Seashore, Chincoteague, Virginia, 2006-07-27.

There were 2,068 households out of which 21.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.8% were married couples living together, 8.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.8% were non-families. 33.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.08 and the average family size was 2.63.

In the town the population was spread out with 18.0% under the age of 18, 5.5% from 18 to 24, 24.7% from 25 to 44, 30.9% from 45 to 64, and 20.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females there were 94.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.8 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $28,514, and the median income for a family was $33,425. Males had a median income of $27,075 versus $20,859 for females. The per capita income for the town was $20,367. About 9.7% of families and 12.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.9% of those under age 18 and 9.4% of those age 65 or over.