Virginia, Tangier History Museum & Interpretive Cultural Center Historical Markers
Tangier is a remote, historic fishing town in the Chesapeake Bay known for its dependence on the soft-shell crab industry. Unfortunately, it is also disappearing with rising sea levels and erosion projected to make the island uninhabitable by the 2070s.
At the south end of Main Ridge, the road becomes Banny's Road, which once led to Banty's Wharf. Banty's Wharf was named for Capt. John L. "Banty" who lived here with his wife, Mrs. Ellen Elizabeth Shores. For over 200 years the island's primary . . . — — Map (db m106987) HM
At the end of Chambers Lane in an area once known as Chambers Wharf, site of the John Chambers Store. Lorraine's Sandwich Shop now occupies the site of the first Post Office, built in 1891.
The homes at 4411 and 4413 Chambers Lane were moved . . . — — Map (db m107002) HM
The famous Chesapeake House occupies two old island homes. Hilda Crockett opened the business in 1944 in the Peter Crockett House with four guest rooms and a dining room on the porch. She expanded by purchasing the Nathan Rayfield House where the . . . — — Map (db m39952) HM
Peter Williams owned and operated the first store on this site. It was built by Charles Roland Parks and William Walters in the 1920's. It later operated as the Smith and Moore Market and was one of the first businesses to take credit cards when . . . — — Map (db m107006) HM
The Doctor's Bungalow was built in 1961 by Grover Charmock. In 1964, Oscar Watson, Jr., MD moved in. It is thought to be the first house on Tangier to have two bathrooms. — — Map (db m106990) HM
The former Noble Dise Store was replaced with the island's first mobile home in 1959.
Manufactured homes remain popular today, but require a community-wide effort to move one into place after being delivered to the island by barge. — — Map (db m39950) HM
Fisherman's Corner Restaurant was featured in Southern Living Magazine (May, 2005) and is renowned for superb stuffed shrimp, irresistible crab bisque, and soft shell crab tidbits.
The owners, Irene Eskridge and Mary Stuart Parks rely . . . — — Map (db m107004) HM
In 1946, this building served as the first meeting place of the New Testament Congregation. It was vandalized several times during a rather contentious time in the island's religious history, a story reported in Newsweek, 1947.
Throughout the . . . — — Map (db m39682) HM
Dr. Charles Gladstone (1880 - 1968) was Tangier's longest serving doctor. He arrived in 1918 and was always on call. Monthly, he would go door-to-door to collect his flat fee of $1.50 but would accept whatever the family could afford. This monthly . . . — — Map (db m39684) HM
Many people ask about the gravestones in front yards. While not unique to Tangier Island and seen throughout the Eastern Shore of Virginia, these are more obvious on such a small island. A number of reasons have been given for these burial sites: . . . — — Map (db m106973) HM
Hoistin' Bridge, built at a height of 20 feet to allow most motorized boats to pass through, is the highest point on Tangier. An earlier version of the bridge is said to have had a removable center board to allow masts of sailing vessels to slip . . . — — Map (db m299446) HM
This is the site of the island's only unsolved murder. Charles C. "Bud" Connorton, the Town Sergeant, was eating in an earlier building here when he was fatally shot through an open window. His assailant was never identified. — — Map (db m39555) HM
John Wallace (1855-1926) moved to Tangier in the 1870's. The J.E. Wallace & Co. Store was on the corner of Wallace Road and West Ridge, facing Wallace Road. It sold groceries, general merchandise, and coffins, as Wallace also worked as an . . . — — Map (db m106992) HM
Jim Daley was born in 1921. His father, J. "Gordon" Daley, operated a barbershop in this same building, which formerly stood in front of the Grand Theater, on the corner just south of its present location. In 1943, after Jim returned from war, . . . — — Map (db m299432) HM
The Joshua Thomas House is long gone, replaced by the modern, chalet style house at the end of the lane. Joshua Thomas, the renowned "Parson of the Islands," lived here from 1799 until about 1825.
The Tangier Town Hall is a former US Navy . . . — — Map (db m106998) HM
This cemetery is the possible site of Lee’s Bethel, the island’s first church. Next to the cemetery is the last of the island’s once plentiful garden farms.
Tangiermen were famous for growing melons, filling their boats until just the . . . — — Map (db m97873) HM
Long Bridge, formerly called Mooney's Bridge, leads over the Main or Big Gut back to the section of Tangier known as "Meat Soup."
The house at the end of the bridge was the home of Norris Angle, who operated the Ambulance Boat. An airplane . . . — — Map (db m107001) HM
The Methodist Parsonage, the home of the resident Reverend and his family, was erected in 1887. It is the only house on the island with a basement and the first to have an indoor bathroom.
It was the first house to have chain link fence, . . . — — Map (db m39949) HM
Muddy Toes is a private residence. It has the island's sole FAA approved heliport in the backyard, designated 3VG6. The Muddy Toes library across the street, a gift to the island, isa free loaning-lending library for all residents and visitors to . . . — — Map (db m299449) HM
The New Testament Congregation was dedicated on Easter Sunday, 1957, and occupies the same site used for the Chautauqua tent in the 1920's.
The New Testament Mission House was once the home of teacher Alfred Benson (1893-1963) who taught at . . . — — Map (db m207732) HM
Factory Road was originally named New Road. It is said to have been built by Henry Frazier, a Black man, by hand, around the time of the Civil War. In 1919, George Lawson of Crisfield, MD in association with the Kegan, Grace & W. Shirt Makers Guild . . . — — Map (db m106988) HM
Owner Milton Parks has provided warm hospitality to boaters for decades. His marina serves local watermen, commercial and recreational boat traffic.
(captions)
Milton Parks on his scooter - Kaye, 2005
Oyster Buy Boats at Park's . . . — — Map (db m106963) HM
The new house on the corner of Garman Road and Main Ridge is the site of the former Peter S. Crockett Store, later Daughtery & Ward, and then Haynie Grocery.
It had a two-story front porch and was featured in many old photographs. . . . — — Map (db m106972) HM
Charles "Puge" Charnock (1936-2003) was one of Tangier's most beloved watermen. He not only was in the crab shedding business, but also sold ice and bait to the watermen. From his dock, and the adjoining County Dock, Tangier's famous shell crabs . . . — — Map (db m299429) HM
Spanky's Place, now an ice cream parlor with a 50's theme, is one of many businesses to occupy this site. These include Michael Thomas's store that sold stoves and propane, Jolly Jim's Restaurant, Nice's Place, and the Roadside Restaurant. It was . . . — — Map (db m106966) HM
The most prominent of the island's buildings, Swain Memorial United Methodist Church is easily recognized as the focal point of Tangier.
Built in 1899 on the site of the island's second church (1842), it is the center of the Tangier's . . . — — Map (db m39998) HM
Tangier Beach is a 1.5 mile long pristine sand beach, accessed over a narrow wooden pedestrian only bridge, and the best site for watching the island's glorious sunsets
Off the end of the beach at the southwest tip stands the current . . . — — Map (db m299450) HM
The location of the first school on Main Ridge (1871) is unknown, although at the turn of the 20th century Canaan Ridge also had its own school.
The second school, built in 1905, stood at the site of the present day basketball court. In 1930 . . . — — Map (db m299451) HM
Mailboat Harbor replaced Steamboat Harbor in the 1930’s as the age of steamboats came to a close. The harbor was first dredged in 1922, from the Eastern side. In 1967, the harbor was dredged through to the Western side of the island. This was a . . . — — Map (db m39554) HM
This is the site of the former Lewis Crockett Store. It is also the site where in 1936, the Goodyear Blimp arrived with provisions to feed the islanders, who had been frozen in for over two months during a record freeze.
The Visitors Center . . . — — Map (db m106969) HM
[First paragraph cannot be interpreted.]
Black Skimmer (Rynchops niger) is black above and white below with a thick black-tipped red-orange bill. It is very long-winged, and is graceful and buoyant in flight, with the head always . . . — — Map (db m299447)
The Tangier Volunteer Fire Department was established in 1964 and moved to this location in 1983.
Fire is especially dangerous on a small island. where wooden houses are close together, allowing fire to spread quickly, especially when fanned . . . — — Map (db m106986) HM
The Telephone Building was built in 1966 by Grover Charnock when radiotelephones were finally replaced with a microwave tower.
In front of this is a new home, built on the site of the former Grand Theater, built in 1929 by Gordon Daley, and . . . — — Map (db m97690) HM
The Amanda Wallace Pruitt House was also the home of Reverend James C. Richardson after his resignation from the Methodist church.
He founded the New Testament Church, which met here from 1948-1956. Services were held in the living room and . . . — — Map (db m106996) HM
The Connorton House was the home of the town Sergeant, Bud Connorton.
On Sunday April 11, 1920, Sergeant Connorton shot and wounded 17 year old Roland Parks. He was trying to enforce a town ordinance that forbade "loafing on store porches and . . . — — Map (db m39954) HM
The Doctor's House was owned consecutively by doctors Samuel Oglesby, William Daisey, Bache Gill, and Charles Gladstone. Dr. Gladstone never lived there, but boarded next door in the Sidney Crockett House.
Dr. Gladstone's former office still . . . — — Map (db m39951) HM
The Double Six Sandwich Shop is where the watermen meet at 3:00 AM for "smokes and coffee" before heading down to the docks to the day's work.
Named for the game of Dominos, the shop is open for sandwiches year-round, and was often considered . . . — — Map (db m39683) HM
The Edward Crockett House was formerly the home of "Sugar Tom" Crockett (1833-1905) the Island's first historian, and author of Facts & Fun, the first written history of Tangier Island. It later served as a hotel and the office of Dr. W.O. . . . — — Map (db m106967) HM
The Emily Pruitt House was home to the island's sail-making seamstress, a critically important job before the invention of motorized boats. — — Map (db m106994) HM
The John Thomas House marks the dividing line between the old Thomas and Wallace family lands.
At the end of the 19th century, these two families owned almost all of the land on the western side of the island. — — Map (db m106991) HM
The Joshua Pruitt House is one of the oldest on Tangier.
Joshua Pruitt (1866-1949) and his wife Amanda took in boarders, teachers, and held worship services in their front yard.
Pruitt traveled to Washington, DC, during the Great . . . — — Map (db m106968) HM
Miss Minnie and Capt. Charlie raised eight children in this house. In order to accommodate the entire family at a single table, Capt. Charlie commissioned Henry Jander to build them a table capable of seating ten people. Later, one son, Orville, . . . — — Map (db m106989) HM
Patrick Benson, a ship's captain from Dublin, Ireland, purchased this land in 1879. The middle section of house was completed in 1889. The front section with porch and back section with kitchen and outbuilding were added over the years, but . . . — — Map (db m106977) HM
The Peter Dise House is one of the oldest on the island and was moved from the "Uppards," the now unoccupied marsh north of the harbor.
There were originally four fresh water wells on the island, two on Maine Ridge, one on Canton Ridge and one . . . — — Map (db m39953) HM
The Peter Williams House is one of the island's oldest and largest homes and was once decorated with beautiful "gingerbread."
Williams was the original owner and operator of the grocery store across the street. — — Map (db m299428) HM
The Sydney Wallace House is one of the Island's most admired. Built in 1904 and restored in 1995 by Wallace's grandson, it now operates as the Bay View Inn.
(caption)
Sydney Wallace House - National Geographic, 1973 — — Map (db m106993) HM
Wading birds with long legs, necks and bills feed on aquatic animal life along the shore and marsh at low tide. Some stand still as a statue, others probe the mud with their bill or feet. These birds are common on Tangier.
Great Blue . . . — — Map (db m299448)
