Editing Accomac, Virginia

{{Other uses|Accomac (disambiguation){{!}}Accomac}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox settlement
|official_name            = Accomac, Virginia
|settlement_type          = [[Town]]
|nickname                 = 
|motto                    =

<!-- Images -->
|image_skyline            = Court_Green_Accomac_Virginia.jpg
|imagesize                = 
|image_caption            = The historic court green in Accomac
|image_flag               = 
|image_seal               =
|image_blank_emblem       = Logo of Accomac, Virginia.png
|blank_emblem_type        = Logo

<!-- Maps -->
|image_map                = Accomack County Virginia incorporated and unincorporated areas Accomac highlighted.svg
|mapsize                  = 260px
|map_caption              = Location in [[Accomack County, Virginia|Accomack County]] and the state of [[Virginia]].

<!-- Location -->
|subdivision_type         = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
|subdivision_name         = {{USA}}
|subdivision_type1        = [[U.S. state|State]]
|subdivision_name1        = {{flag|Virginia}}
|subdivision_type2        = [[List of counties in Virginia|County]]
|subdivision_name2        = [[Accomack County, Virginia|Accomack]]

<!-- Government -->
|government_footnotes     = 
|government_type          = 
|leader_title             = 
|leader_name              = 
|leader_title1            = 
|leader_name1             = 
|established_title        = Founded
|established_date         = 1664

<!-- Area -->
|unit_pref  = Imperial
|area_footnotes           = <ref name="CenPopGazetteer2019">{{cite web|title=2019 U.S. Gazetteer Files|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2019_Gazetteer/2019_gaz_place_51.txt|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=August 7, 2020}}</ref>
|area_magnitude           = 
|area_total_sq_mi         = 0.41
|area_land_sq_mi          = 0.41
|area_water_sq_mi         = 0.00

<!-- Population -->
|population_as_of         = [[2020 United States Census|2020]]
|population_footnotes     = <ref name="population">{{Cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/data/tables.2021.List_58029271.html#list-tab-List_58029271 |title=Population and Housing Unit Estimates|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=December 3, 2022}}</ref>
|population_total         = 526
|population_density_sq_mi = 1188.73

<!-- General information -->
|timezone                 = [[Eastern Time Zone|Eastern (EST)]]
| utc_offset = &minus;5
|timezone_DST             = EDT
| utc_offset_DST = &minus;4
|elevation_footnotes      = <ref name=gnis/>
|elevation_m              = 
|elevation_ft             = 39
|coordinates              = {{coord|37|43|7|N|75|40|2|W|region:US-VA_type:city|display=inline,title}}
|postal_code_type         = [[ZIP code]]
|postal_code              = 23301
|area_codes                = [[Area codes 757 and 948|757, 948]]
|blank_name               = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
|blank_info               = 51-00180<ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=January 31, 2008 |title=U.S. Census website }}</ref>
|blank1_name              = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
|blank1_info              = 1498445<ref name=gnis>{{GNIS|1498445}}</ref>
|website                  = {{URL|http://accomac.org}}
|footnotes                = 
|pop_est_as_of = 2021
|pop_est_footnotes = <ref name="population"/>
|population_est = 522
|area_total_km2 = 1.06
|area_land_km2 = 1.06
|area_water_km2 = 0.00
|population_density_km2 = 458.69
}}
'''Accomac''' is a town in and the [[county seat]] of [[Accomack County, Virginia]], United States.<ref name="GR6">{{cite web|url=http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx |access-date=June 7, 2011 |title=Find a County |publisher=National Association of Counties |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110531210815/http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx |archive-date=May 31, 2011 }}</ref> The population was 526 at the [[2020 United States Census|2020 census]].<ref name="population" />

== History ==
Though Accomack County was established as one of [[Shires of Virginia|Virginia's eight original shires]] in 1634, the government was situated in the southern part of the [[Eastern Shore of Virginia|Eastern Shore]] near [[Eastville, Virginia|Eastville]] until the division of the shore into two counties ([[Northampton County, Virginia|Northampton]] and Accomack) in 1663.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Peters|first1=John O.|last2=Peters|first2=Margaret T.|title=Virginia's Historic Courthouses|date=1995|publisher=University Press of Virginia|location=Charlottesville|page=170}}</ref> During this era, religious diversity began in the area, as Presbyterian [[Francis Makemie]] received a plantation nearby which he used as a base for his mercantile and missionary journeys, and where he died at age 50 a few years after winning a New York court case brought against his preaching (as the Scots-Irish emigrant to Maryland's Eastern Shore counties produced a preaching license from Barbados). Early Baptist [[Elijah Baker (preacher)|Elijah Baker]] also arrived near Accomac before the American Revolutionary War, and was likewise imprisoned for unauthorized preaching, but eventually also had that case dismissed.

After the creation of the present-day Accomack County, the court convened alternatively at [[Pungoteague, Virginia|Pungoteague]] and [[Onancock, Virginia|Onancock]] until the 1690s when it shifted to the house of John Cole at the site that later became the town of Accomac, then known by the name Matompkin. A brick courthouse was built in 1756 and the surrounding settlement became known as Accomack Courthouse.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Nock III|first1=Floyd|title=Drummondtown: Accomac Court House, Virginia|date=1976|publisher=McClure Press|location=Verona, VA|page=10}}</ref> On December 7, 1786, Richard Drummond, Gilbert Poiley, John McLean, Edward Kerr, Catherine Scott, Patience Robertson, and William Berkeley petitioned the [[Virginia House of Delegates]] for the creation of an incorporated town at Accomack Courthouse.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Nock III|first1=Floyd|title=Drummondtown: Accomac Court House, Virginia|date=1976|publisher=McClure Press|location=Verona, VA|page=12}}</ref> Their petition was granted and the House of Delegates passed an "Act to establish a Town at the Courthouse of the county of Accomack...by the name of Drummond," named in honor of the chief landholder in the new town.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Nock III|first1=Floyd|title=Drummondtown: Accomac Court House, Virginia|date=1976|publisher=McClure Press|location=Verona, VA|page=13}}</ref> Many of the town's historic houses, churches, and other buildings were constructed between the last decade of the eighteenth century and first half of the nineteenth century, representing vernacular interpretations of late [[Georgian style|Georgian]], [[Federal style|Federal]], and [[Greek Revival architecture|Greek Revival]] architectural styles, as the town prospered as the terminus of a ferry across Chesapeake Bay. The modern ferry only travels between nearby [[Onancock, Virginia]] and [[Tangier Island]].

During the [[American Civil War]], the [[Union Army]] occupied the Eastern Shore to cut supply lines to the south and prevent the [[Confederate Army]] from using the shore as a staging area to attack the north through [[Maryland]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Nock III|first1=Floyd|title=Drummondtown: Accomac Court House, Virginia|date=1976|publisher=McClure Press|location=Verona, VA|pages=21–24}}</ref> Union General [[Henry H. Lockwood]] commanded the occupying forces and established a headquarters in the rectory of [[St. James Church (Accomac, Virginia)|St. James Episcopal Church]] (then home to town physician Dr. Peter F. Browne).<ref>{{cite book|last1=Nock III|first1=Floyd|title=Drummondtown: Accomac Court House, Virginia|date=1976|publisher=McClure Press|location=Verona, VA|page=25}}</ref> Other than damages to the Presbyterian and Methodist Churches which were used by the army for stables and housing, Drummondtown escaped the war with little damage.

The late nineteenth century brought slow but steady economic prosperity for the citizens of Drummondtown, fueled by the arrival of the railroad from the north, and several new homes were constructed in and around the older core of the town in the 1880s and 1890s.<ref name="McClure Press">{{cite book|last1=Nock III|first1=Floyd|title=Drummondtown: Accomac Court House, Virginia|date=1976|publisher=McClure Press|location=Verona, VA|page=28}}</ref> The coming of the railroad also presented a challenge for Drummondtown when residents of the newly established town of [[Parksley, Virginia|Parksley]] initiated a referendum to move the county seat to the new community. The referendum vote took place in 1895 after nearly a decade of debate, and the residents of Accomack County elected to keep the court where it had been located for the past two centuries.<ref name="McClure Press"/> By this time, the town had been renamed "Accomac" by order of the [[United States Post Office Department]] dated August 9, 1893.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Nock III|first1=Floyd|title=Drummondtown: Accomac Court House, Virginia|date=1976|publisher=McClure Press|location=Verona, VA|page=7}}</ref> The name ''Accomac'' is derived from a Native American word translated to mean "on the other side".<ref>{{cite book|title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States|year=1905|pages=23|author=Gannett, Henry|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BqwPAAAAIAAJ&output=pdf}}</ref>

==General information==
* ZIP Code: 23301
* Area Code: 757
* Local Phone Exchange: 787
* School District: Accomack County Public Schools

==Geography==
Accomac is located at {{coord|37|43|7|N|75|40|2|W|type:city_region:US-VA}} (37.718678, &minus;75.667323).<ref name="GR1">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=April 23, 2011|date=February 12, 2011|title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990}}</ref>

According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the town has a total area of 0.4&nbsp;square mile (1.1&nbsp;km{{sup|2}}), all  land.

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|1950= 500
|1960= 414
|1970= 373
|1980= 522
|1990= 466
|2000= 547
|2010= 519
|2020= 526
|estyear=2021
|estimate=522
|estref=<ref name="population" />
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref name="DecennialCensus">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|access-date=June 4, 2015}}</ref>
}}
As of the [[census]]<ref name="GR2" /> of 2000, there were 547 people, 199 households, and 125 families residing in the town. The [[population density]] was 1,322.1 people per square mile (515.1/km{{sup|2}}). There were 235 housing units at an average density of 568.0 per square mile (221.3/km{{sup|2}}). The racial makeup of the town was 71.12% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 24.68% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 2.56% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 0.91% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 0.73% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 2.19% of the population.

There were 199 households, out of which 22.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.8% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 8.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.7% were non-families. 35.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 21.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.13 and the average family size was 2.71.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 14.8% under the age of 18, 11.0% from 18 to 24, 30.7% from 25 to 44, 24.1% from 45 to 64, and 19.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 131.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 136.5 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $37,500, and the median income for a family was $51,250. Males had a median income of $34,375 versus $23,929 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the town was $24,050. About 3.7% of families and 6.2% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 7.4% of those under age 18 and 11.9% of those age 65 or over.

==Transportation==
===Major highways===
*{{jct|state=VA|US|13}}
*{{jct|state=VA|US-Bus|13|dab1=Accomac}}

===Public transportation===
[[STAR Transit (Virginia)|STAR Transit]] provides [[public transit]] services, linking Accomac with [[Onley, Virginia|Onley]], [[Oak Hall, Virginia|Oak Hall]], and other communities in Accomack and [[Northampton County, Virginia|Northampton]] counties.

==Notable people==
* [[Thomas H. B. Browne]], born at Drummondtown, [[United States Congressman]]<ref name="Marquis 1607-1896">{{cite book | title = Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607-1896 | publisher = Marquis Who's Who | location=Chicago | year = 1967}}</ref>
* [[Millie Tunnell]], born at Drummondtown, emancipated slave who met [[George Washington]] and died in [[Jamaica, Queens]] at 111 years of age.
* [[Henry A. Wise]], born at Drummondtown, [[Governor of Virginia]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikivoyage|Accomac}}
* [https://accomac.org/ Accomac, Virginia official site]
* [http://www.easternshorevisitor.com/accomac-virginia.html "Accomac Virginia"], ''Eastern Shore Visitor''

{{Accomack County, Virginia}}
{{Virginia towns}}
{{Virginia}}
{{Virginia county seats and independent cities}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Towns in Accomack County, Virginia]]
[[Category:Towns in Virginia]]
[[Category:County seats in Virginia]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1786]]
[[Category:1786 establishments in Virginia]]