Barrier Islands Center

Today we drove a few miles south along a back road to the small fishing village of Willis Wharf. We then got back on US 13 for a few more miles the the Barrier Island Center at Machipongo. It is located at what was once the poor farm. A gentleman there who is a native that was born on Hog Island gave us a very interesting and informative tour of the poor farm facilities and also the history of the barrier islands. The rooms of the main house contain the museum dedicated mostly to the history of the Barrier Islands off the east side of the peninsula. The Barrier Islands were inhabited at one time and were used by the wealthy from Washington DC, Baltimore and other big cities further north. There were many hotels, resorts and hunting clubs located on them as well as families that had lived for 2 or more generations on them.

• The forces of the wind and water have caused the islands to move over time. Similar to sand dunes but at a slower pace. A storm in 1933 washed away the 15 to 20 sand dunes that protected them. This also destroyed many of the resorts. The families that had lived there all their lives could see that they were no longer going to be able to live there so they began moving to the mainland. Some of them even jacked their houses up, loaded them on a barge and moved them to the mainland. Some of them are still located at Willis Wharf. The water ways in and out of the barrier islands were used over time by pirates and other merchants to smuggle goods into the US to avoid taxes and tariffs. The barrier islands are no longer inhabited and are now owned by the government to keep them from being developed. NASA does have a rocket facility located on Wallops Island