Assateague Island is an out-rider, a barrier island, that at one time was attached to the state of Delaware, and, possibly, New Jersey in ages past. Assateague, like all barrier islands, has changed in shape over the years. Assateague's shape, length, and over-all form is determined by the movement of sand in the littoral zone - the area between the island and the mainland. In the 1800s, Assateague was connected to Fenwick Island in Delaware, and ran down the east coast to the giant hook of Tom's Cove in Virginia. The island that became Fenwick Island, Delaware, and Rehobeth Beach and Ocean City, Maryland, and also Assateague Island, in both Virginia and Maryland, originally belonged to Native Americans, and was purchased from them by Englishman Thomas Fenwick for trinkets after having been given the patent by Lord Baltimore.
I'm not very aware of the history of the northern end of Assateague, or when it separated from Delaware, but I know about the Maryland and Virginia end of Assateague Island. Anyone who lives beside the sea knows the power of the waves and wind during a storm. Wind, waves, and storms have sculpted Assateague over the centuries. Besides salt marshes and beaches, trees grew upon the island, and there were sources of brackish water, meadows developed and waterfowl and wildlife abounded. Sometime in the 1700s, the people of Chincoteague Island, Virginia began keeping their livestock on Assateague, the island to the east. The main reason was to escape taxation; taxes had to be paid on stock on Chincoteague, but not on Assateague. Cattle, sheep, goats, horses, pigs, and chickens were turned loose to forage on Assateague, and eventually people formed small villages and enclaves on the island. Stock ownership was known by ear notches, and round-ups occurred for sheep-shearing, and market times, as well as to prepare for the winter. The Assateague Lighthouse was built in 1833, at a height of 45 feet, back in 1833; in 1867, it was rebuilt on the original site at a height of 142 feet. When the original light was built, the lighthouse was located in the center of the Virginia part of the island. You can see today, from the top of the lighthouse, how the island has changed form. A village named Assateague formed around the lighthouse, but it was removed to Chincoteague by 1925.
In 1869, Isaac Coffin built the first water-front cottage used for rental in what became Ocean City. The city was declared in 1875, and became incorporated in 1880. There was a small cut,or gut, of water running through Assateague Island near the southern end of the town of Ocean City. People could take shallow-draft boats through the gut at low tide, and those with deeper drafts at high tide. In August 1933, a hurricane brushed up the Delmarva peninsula, and the gut became an inlet. Normally, it would have silted back up, but a system of artificial jetties was built between 1933 and 1935 to preserve the inlet as a navigation channel. This has caused Assateague Island to drift considerably to the west,and now the two islands are more than a half-mile apart. This has benefited Ocean City, creating wider beaches and better fishing access. However, it's caused erosion problems on Assateague.
Between 1933 and the early 1960s, interest alternated between creating a National Seashore on Assateague and pushing for residential and business development on the Maryland end. In 1950, a 15-mile section of the Maryland side of the island, was platted for development and a paved road was built traversing the area. In 1962, the Ash Wednesday storm destroyed the road, Baltimore Boulevard, and many of the private homes were destroyed. Although some private landowners on Assateague supported re-development, Maryland, as a state, supported creation of a National Seashore, and legislation was introduced in the US Congress. Assateague Island National Seashore was created by an Act of Congress in 1965.
One reaches Ocean City, Maryland via US 50.
Assateague Island National Seashore and State Park is accessible by visiting Berlin, Maryland via Maryland State Road 611.
Photos to follow.
