I grew up within walking distance of a pristine beach, on a small barrier island in Virginia. Chincoteague is home to fewer than five thousand permanent residents who make a living as watermen or providing services to the fifty-thousand “tourists” who flock to the island every summer. My family owns and operates a food-truck called BETTER.®. Like most other businesses on the island, we are open only for the tourist season. Time moves slow on Chincoteague and locals are proud to be living on “Island Time.” Since Chincoteague is such a small community everyone knows everyone. Locals on the island are constantly surrounded by kind faces of friends and kin folk. Chincoteague is also home to one of the top ranking public schools in the state of Virginia. Teachers at Chincoteague High School have taught multiple generations of the same family. A vast majority of the teachers actually graduated from Chincoteague High School before returning to teach.
Chincoteague, a Native American word meaning “Beautiful land across the water,” is nestled safely
behind its sister island Assateague, home to a herd of wild ponies. Assateague is a National Wildlife
Refuge that protects many native species that are threatened or endangered. The herd of wild ponies
is the main tourist attraction to the island. A legend tells that long ago a Spanish sailing ship wrecked
on a sandbar off the coast of Assateague. The ponies miraculously swam to shore and began
slowly carving a niche into the natural ecosystem. The ponies range free on the beach and
surrounding marshland, their stomachs growing from the excessive salt absorbed through the
marsh grass. Chincoteague Volunteer Fire company are the technical owners of these wild ponies
and have been since the early 20th century. Every year on the last weekend in July firemen,
also known as Saltwater Cowboys, travel over to Assateague and round up heards of ponies to swim
them across a channel onto Chincoteague. After the famous “Pony Swim” the young colts are
auctioned off to raise money for the Fire Department. Several local groups buy colts and send
them back to Assateague to continue the life of the heard. This roundup, auction, and carnival are
the most important day of the year for locals and pony lovers alike.
Chincoteague, a Native American word meaning “Beautiful land across the water,” is nestled safely
behind its sister island Assateague, home to a herd of wild ponies. Assateague is a National Wildlife
Refuge that protects many native species that are threatened or endangered. The herd of wild ponies
is the main tourist attraction to the island. A legend tells that long ago a Spanish sailing ship wrecked
on a sandbar off the coast of Assateague. The ponies miraculously swam to shore and began
slowly carving a niche into the natural ecosystem. The ponies range free on the beach and
surrounding marshland, their stomachs growing from the excessive salt absorbed through the
marsh grass. Chincoteague Volunteer Fire company are the technical owners of these wild ponies
and have been since the early 20th century. Every year on the last weekend in July firemen,
also known as Saltwater Cowboys, travel over to Assateague and round up heards of ponies to swim
them across a channel onto Chincoteague. After the famous “Pony Swim” the young colts are
auctioned off to raise money for the Fire Department. Several local groups buy colts and send
them back to Assateague to continue the life of the heard. This roundup, auction, and carnival are
the most important day of the year for locals and pony lovers alike.
Chincoteague is an enchanting place. I am proud to be from the Eastern Shore of Virginia.
I am proud to have grown up in such a small a supportive community.
But most of all, I consider myself lucky to be able to call Chincoteague my island home.
To learn more about the wild ponies of Chincoteague read
Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry.
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