Accomack County, Virginia

Accomack County is a county in Virginia, United States, occupying the northern two-thirds of the Eastern Shore peninsula between the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. It had a population of 33,413 at the 2020 census and covers 1,310 square miles (3,400 km2) — 450 square miles (1,200 km2) of land and 861 square miles (2,230 km2) of water — centred near 37°46′N 75°46′W. Because most of its area is open water and marsh, it ranks as the largest county in Virginia by total area despite a modest land base.

Accomac is the county seat; its postal code is 23301. The county has 14 incorporated towns, led by Chincoteague, plus dozens of unincorporated communities and no CDPs of its own. Virginia counties do not use civil townships, so this profile has no townships section. The county sits in the Eastern time zone.

Towns & Villages in Accomack County

Accomack County has 14 incorporated towns and more than a hundred named unincorporated communities scattered along US Route 13 and the county’s tidal creeks. The table below lists the incorporated towns first, then the larger unincorporated places carried over from the county’s historic settlement list. Population figures are shown only where independently confirmed; unconfirmed cells read —.

A handful of names in older lists refer to the same place under two spellings — “Groton Town” and “Grotons,” and duplicate “Middlesex” entries, are the same community and are listed once here. Chincoteague also has an incorporated neighbor, Chincoteague Island, which shares its ZIP code (23336) rather than carrying a separate one.

ZIP Codes

• 23301 — Accomac (also serves the county seat area)
• 23306 — Belle Haven
• 23308 — Bloxom
• 23336 — Chincoteague Island (also serves Wallops Island’s civilian side)
• 23341 — Craddockville
• 23345 — Davis Wharf
• 23356 — Greenbackville
• 23357 — Greenbush
• 23358 — Hacksneck
• 23359 — Hallwood
• 23389 — Harborton (PO box only)
• 23395 — Horntown
• 23399 — Jenkins Bridge
• 23401 — Keller (PO box only)
• 23404 — Locustville
• 23407 — Mappsville (PO box only)
• 23409 — Mears
• 23410 — Melfa
• 23412 — Modest Town (PO box only)
• 23414 — Nelsonia (PO box only)
• 23415 — New Church
• 23416 — Oak Hall
• 23417 — Onancock
• 23418 — Onley
• 23420 — Painter
• 23421 — Parksley
• 23422 — Pungoteague (PO box only)
• 23423 — Quinby (PO box only)
• 23426 — Sanford
• 23427 — Saxis
• 23440 — Tangier (PO box only)
• 23441 — Tasley (PO box only)
• 23442 — Temperanceville
• 23480 — Wachapreague (PO box only)
• 23483 — Wattsville (PO box only)
• 23488 — Withams

Small unincorporated places without a post office of their own, such as Bobtown, Guilford and South Point, use the ZIP code of the nearest listed town.

Geography

Accomack County sits on the northern Eastern Shore of Virginia, a low, flat peninsula of the Delmarva landmass separating the Chesapeake Bay from the Atlantic Ocean. The Atlantic side is fringed by barrier islands, marsh, and the Chincoteague and Assateague inlets; the bay side is cut by dozens of tidal creeks that give many communities — Chesconessex, Pungoteague, Nandua — their names. Because more than half the county is tidal water, its land area is modest even though its total area leads the state. Accomack County borders Somerset County, Maryland to the northwest and Worcester County, Maryland to the northeast, and shares its southern boundary with Northampton County, Virginia, the only other county on Virginia’s Eastern Shore.

Demographics

Accomack County had 33,413 residents at the 2020 census. Chincoteague is the largest incorporated town, followed by Onancock, the county’s principal bayside port town. Accomack’s median household income runs below the Virginia median of $89,931, reflecting the county’s agricultural and seafood-processing economic base rather than the commuter incomes typical of Northern Virginia. Because most of the county’s area is water, its population density — roughly 74 people per square mile of land — is higher than the total-area figure alone would suggest.

Economy & Local Life

Agriculture and seafood remain the county’s economic backbone: Accomack is one of the top poultry-producing counties in Virginia, and its bayside creeks support a working watermen’s fleet harvesting crab, clam and oyster. NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, on Wallops Island, is a major employer and a working orbital launch site, drawing visitors for rocket launches. Chincoteague’s tourism economy, anchored by the adjacent Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge and Assateague Island, peaks each July around the Pony Swim, when the island’s feral Chincoteague ponies are herded across the channel and auctioned by the volunteer fire company.

History

Accomack County was established in 1671, after an earlier county of the same territory (organized in 1663 as “Accawmack”) was renamed Northampton in 1642 and later re-split. The name derives from Accawmacke, an Eastern Algonquian word associated with the Accomac people who inhabited the peninsula before European settlement. The county’s isolation on the Eastern Shore, reachable overland only via Maryland until the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel opened in 1964, shaped a distinct local dialect and economy built on watermen’s trades. Chincoteague’s wild pony herd, subject of Marguerite Henry’s 1947 novel “Misty of Chincoteague,” has drawn national attention to the annual Pony Swim since 1925.

Getting There

US Route 13 runs the length of the county north to south and is the main travel corridor for the whole Eastern Shore; US Route 175 branches east to Chincoteague.

• Salisbury, Maryland — 25 miles north
• Norfolk, Virginia — 70 miles south via the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel
• Ocean City, Maryland — 30 miles northeast
• Onancock — central county, reachable from US 13 via VA 179

The nearest general-aviation field is Accomack County Airport near Melfa; the nearest commercial airport is Salisbury-Ocean City-Wicomico Regional Airport in Maryland.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Accomack County, Virginia?
It occupies the northern two-thirds of Virginia’s Eastern Shore, on the Delmarva Peninsula between the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.

What is the population of Accomack County?
33,413 at the 2020 census.

How big is Accomack County?
1,310 square miles (3,400 km2) total, of which 450 square miles is land and 861 square miles is water.

What is the county seat of Accomack County?
Accomac is the county seat.

How many towns are in Accomack County?
14 incorporated towns, the largest being Chincoteague, plus more than 50 unincorporated communities.

What ZIP codes are in Accomack County?
More than 30, ranging from 23301 (Accomac) to 23488 (Withams); see the ZIP Codes section above.

Why is Chincoteague famous?
For its feral pony herd and the annual Pony Swim, held each July since 1925, and for its role in Marguerite Henry’s novel “Misty of Chincoteague.”

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Virginia.