Assateague Island is a barrier island built by sand that persistent waves have raised from the ocean’s gently sloping floor. It is constantly reshaping as steady winds continue moving trillions of sand grains, each a bit of eroded ancient Appalachian Mountains. Occasional storms drive waves and sands so forcefully that beach and shoreline change dramatically.
In approximately its present shape, it dates from 1933. The island has always been characterized by change: most dramatically the apparent erosion of the north end during the past fifty years and the extensive enlargement at its southern end for more than a century.
However, in 1933, a storm defined the present island through the cutting of Ocean City Inlet, which severed its contact with the mainland to the north. The resulting landform is a low strip of variously vegetated sand, now about thirty-seven miles long and from one-quarter mile to two and one-half miles across.
The purpose of governmental involvement is to conserve the plants and animals that live here and to provide visitors with a place for rest, relaxation, and recreation.
The island, off the mainland of the US States of Maryland and Virginia, has three units, the largest being Assateague Island National Seashore. Maryland’s Assateague State Park encompasses part of the northern section of the island.
Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge is located in the southern part of the Virginia section. There was much political involvement in the setting up of these entities. A popular sight on the island is the herds of wild horses.
In 1934, the National Park Service of the Department of the Interior undertook a survey of lands along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts to identify those with potential to be acquired by the Federal Government and administered by the Service as national seashore recreational areas.
In 1940, a bill was introduced in Congress to provide for the establishment of a Rehoboth-Assateague National Seashore in Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia.
In 1943, the Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Interior established Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge on the south end of the island.
State of Maryland planners proposed a park on Assateague Island in 1940 and again in 1952, each time unsuccessfully. In 1956, the Maryland General Assembly authorized establishment of the Assateague State Park and appropriated money for additional land.
April 1963, a report recommended establishment of an Assateague Island National Seashore under the Park Service, encompassing the entire island.
To avert opposition from the Maryland Department of Forests and Parks and the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, Assateague State Park and Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge would retain their individual identities under their separate administrations.
In 1965, the National Park Service published a promotional brochure, Assateague Island National Seashore: A Proposal. The proposal called for the national seashore to encompass 39,630 acres, including all of Assateague Island, the small adjoining bayside islands, marshes, and submerged lands, a 1,000-foot strip of the Atlantic, and the 10-acre headquarters tract on the mainland.
The Government would acquire the Chincoteague-Assateague bridge and compensate Maryland for construction of the Sandy Point bridge if the state operated it free of tolls. Maryland would be assured the right of acquiring additional land for its state park from the Federal Government at the north end of the island.
A master plan prepared for Assateague State Park in 1964 called for major development on Maryland’s 688 acres. Included were an administration building, restaurant, bathhouses, harbormaster building, paddock, general store, marina, boatel, camping areas, two employee residences, and a barracks for seasonal staff.
Extensive hydraulic dredging from the bay would build up a protective dune and elevate the areas to be developed. Numerous discussions followed between the state and the federal government before agreement was reached for the existence of the state park.
See map of the island and surrounding area.
We would like to thank the following persons for assistance in providing information for this page:
- Diane B. Feheley, Maryland State Forest and Park Service
- Jaime Kimble, Assateague State Park
- Christopher Seymour, Mark Sturm, and Jack Kumer, Assateague Island National Seashore
(This page was updated in November 2012.
