Located on Maddox Blvd just before the entrance to the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, The Oyster & Maritime Museum tells the story of Chincoteague Island history, of the oyster trade and seafood business which were the major industries for more than 100 years.
The maritime history of Chincoteague and Assateague Islands is the stuff of seafaring legend, with shipwrecks and strandings to chill the heart. It began in January of 1650 with the stranding of Colonel Henry Norwood and his party on the northern shore of Assateague Island. They came ashore in search of food and water, and calmer waters in which they could effect on their storm-damaged ship. Norwood detailed the horrific ordeal in his book "A Voyage to Virginia," mentioning that their survival was due in part to the oysters they harvested while on Assateague.
The salt water of Chincoteague Bay has been known since the earliest days of Virginia colonization for the oysters which grow on its many reefs. The Chincoteague Oyster and Maritime Museum captures the story of Chincoteague's oyster industry from its beginnings, when the oysters were harvested with hand tools, to the development of the Island's aquaculture industry which now produces not only oysters but clams.
Oysters were so essential to the economy of Chincoteague Island during the 19th century that the people of Chincoteague broke with Virginia and remained part of the Union during the Civil War. They did so in order to prevent a blockade which would have prevented the oysters from being shipped North!
The Oyster and Maritime Museum, which opened in 1972, is the result of a group of Chincoteague Island's women who decided in 1961 to preserve the island's history as a major oyster and seafood provider. Located just before the entrance to the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, the Museum contains its own aquarium.
The most impressive of its exhibits, however, is the original fresnel lens from the Assateague Island Lighthouse, which guided seafaring ships as far as 23 miles from shore for ninety-six years, between 1865 and 1961. The display allows viewers to examine the workings of the lens at close range.
Shell seekers have long known of the great variety of shells at Toms Cove in the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. A fine collection of shells from all around the world is on display at the Oyster and Maritime Museum. And the Museum's wonderful diorama will give you an understanding of all the processes involved in raising, harvesting, and processing oysters for shipment.
There's also an excellent model of an oyster dock and historical photographs of the island's oyster industry. One of the Museum's most whimsical exhibits is its collection of discarded items which in larval oysters became "squatters," turning them into homes.
While Chincoteague's glory days as a supplier of Eastern Shore oysters may be in the past, the Oyster and Maritime Museum keeps the "flavor" of those days alive!