—Reedville—

- Reedville Fishermen’s Museum
- Historic Christ Church (Weems)
- Mary Ball Washington Museum & Library (Lancaster)
—Tangier Island—
Notable Historic Sites: Prior to the arrival of the Colonists, Tangier Island was seasonally used as a retreat for Pocomoke Indians for centuries. While not much is known about these indigenous peoples, thousands of stone arrowheads have been found on the island, suggesting that the land mass was once much bigger than the remaining acreage, allowing for hunting of wild game. In addition to these arrowheads, historians discovered a large pile of oyster shells off the shore that dated back thousands of years. The shells reveal a much longer history of oyster cultivation than previously thought; native peoples had the equipment, knowledge, and expertise to work as watermen long before the Colonists emigrated to Virginia. The first Colonists to discover Tangier Island were led by Captain John Smith in the summer of 1608. After an exploratory mission to what is now Washington, D.C., Smith traveled south along the Chesapeake Bay towards Jamestown and came across a group of small islands in the middle of the waterway. He collectively named them the “Russell Isles” for a doctor onboard the ship with him; today, these islands are Tangier, Smiths, and Watts Islands. When discussing Tangier, you may often hear about the watermen that have lived here for generations, but when the island was first permanently settled in the 1770s, the land was mostly used for farming. It wasn’t until the late 19th century that islanders began harvesting crabs and oysters from the Chesapeake Bay, laying the groundwork for Virginia’s role as a world-class seafood producer. During the War of 1812, the British used Tangier Island as a staging area and base, mobilizing their forces towards Washington, D.C. during planned attacks. Nothing is left of these temporary structures, but the Swain Memorial Methodist Church was established shortly after in 1835, and is the oldest building left on the shrinking island; since the 1850s, less than 33% of Tangier Island’s land mass remains. Although measures have been enacted to prevent further erosion, much of the current acreage could be lost to the Bay in the next 50 years. Travel to Tangier Island is fairly limited, but visitors in Virginia can take a ferry from either Reedville or Onancock on the Eastern Shore to reach this historic town. Since its inception, the island community has remained very tight-knit, and you’ll notice a distinctive dialect of American English spoken on Tangier that is not found anywhere else in the world, thought to be remnants of the 17th-century English dialect brought over by the island’s first colonial settlers. Learn More About Tangier Island History—Gloucester—

—Norfolk—

- Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church
- Moses Myers House
- Willoughby-Baylor House at the Chrysler Museum of Art
- Fort Norfolk
—Hampton—
