View of the Sunrise over Watts Bay, Atlantic, Virginia, United States
The county was named for its original residents, the Accomac people, an Eastern Algonquian-speaking Native American tribe. Members of an English voyage of exploration landed in the area in 1603, four years before the founding of the Jamestown Colony. Captain John Smith visited the region in 1608. The Accomac people at the time numbered around 6,000 and was led by Debedeavon, a paramount chief, whom the English colonists called the "Laughing King." He became a staunch ally of the colonists, granting them several large areas for their own use. Accomac Shire was established in 1634 as one of the eight original shires of Virginia. The name comes from the native word Accawmacke, which meant "on the other side".[4] In 1642 the name was changed to Northampton by the colonists. Northampton was divided into two counties in 1663. The northern adopted the original name, while the south remained Northampton. In 1670, the Virginia Colony's Royal Governor William Berkeley abolished Accomac County, but the Virginia General Assembly re-created it in 1671.[5] In 1940, the General Assembly officially added a "k" to the end of the county's name to arrive at its current spelling. The name of "Accomack County" first appeared in the Decisions of the United States Board on Geographical Names in 1943.
Size: 5616px × 3744px
Location: 33371 Nocks Landing Rd, Atlantic, VA 23303
Photo credit: © John Gaffen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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