Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Accomac

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Accomac

Accomac dates to 1786, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940

3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 158 buildings. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1931 on, and the census since 1950.

1786founded
3on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Accomac’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Accomac began

When was Accomac founded?

1786

Accomac dates its founding to 1786 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1950.

First census: 500 in 19502020 census: 519240 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1792.The full story ↓

What stands out about Accomac’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A historic districtThe Accomac Historic District takes in 158 historic buildings.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Accomac.Deep rootsEstablished in 1786: 240 years of Accomac.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

3 listings protect 160 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
160
each building in a district counts
first listed
1969
St. James Church
St. James ChurchDebtors' PrisonAccomac Historic District
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Greek Doric1
Mid-19th Century Regional1
Late Victorian1
St. James ChurchGreek Doric
Debtors' PrisonBuilding
Accomac Historic DistrictMid-19th Century Regional

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Accomac Courthouse
1792–today
Drummondtown
1802–1903
Accoman
1833–1848
17901910today

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Timeline

Accomac, 1786 to 1940

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 18th century
  2. 1786
    FoundingAccomac is established
  3. 1792Post officeThe Accomac Courthouse post office opens
  4. 19th century
  5. 1802Post officeThe Drummondtown post office opens
  6. 1806Born hereHenry A. Wise is born here
  7. 1833Post officeThe Accoman post office opens
  8. 1834Born hereEdward Southey Joynes is born here
  9. 1844Born hereThomas H. B. Browne is born here
  10. 1848Post officeThe Accoman post office closes
  11. 20th century
  12. 1903Post officeThe Drummondtown post office closes
  13. 1907Born hereRichard Beale Davis is born here
  14. 1931On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  15. 1940In the archiveHousing for migratory agricultural workers near Accomac, Virginia
The story

How Accomac came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Accomac.

Read it all →

Though Accomack County was established as one of Virginia's eight original shires in 1634, the government was situated in the southern part of the Eastern Shore near Eastville until the division of the shore into two counties (Northampton and Accomack) in 1663. During this era, religious diversity began in the area, as Presbyterian Francis Makemie received a plantation nearby which he used as a base for his mercantile and missionary journeys, and where he died at age 50 a few years after winning a New York court case brought against his preaching (as the Scots-Irish emigrant to Maryland's Eastern Shore counties produced a preaching license from Barbados). Early Baptist Elijah Baker also arrived near Accomac before the American Revolutionary War, and was likewise imprisoned for unauthorized preaching, but eventually also had that case dismissed.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Accomac, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s6 items
Housing for migratory agricultural workers near Accomac, Virginia1940Housing for migratory agricultural workers near Accom…Florida migrants in an onion field near Accomac, Virginia1940Florida migrants in an onion field near Accomac, Virg…Migratory workers in an onion field near Accomac, Virginia1940Migratory workers in an onion field near Accomac, Vir…Florida migratory worker gathering onions in a field near Accomac, Virginia1940Florida migratory worker gathering onions in a field …House occupied by migratory agricultural workers in a field near Accomac, Virginia1940House occupied by migratory agricultural workers in a…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Housing for migratory agricultural workers near Accomac, Virginia1940Untitled photo, possibly related to: Housing for migr…
1950s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
On the map

Accomac on the map, 1931 to 1978

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Accomac. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Accomac on the 1931 USGS mapAccomac on the 1957 USGS mapAccomac on the 1968 USGS mapAccomac on the 1978 USGS map1931Accomac sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Accomac.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Housing for migratory agricultural workers near Accomac, Virginia
Retake this viewHousing for migratory agricultural workers near Accomac, Virginia, 1940

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Accomac’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Accomac, census by census

01002003004005006001960198020002020Peak: 547

Between 373 and 547 people in every census since 1950.

8 censuses, 1950–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Accomac’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Accomac

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Henry A. WiseUnited States Congressman and governor of Virgi… · b. 1806
Thomas H. B. BrowneAmerican politician · b. 1844
Edward Southey JoynesAmerican scholar · b. 1834
R
Richard Beale Davis, educator · b. 1907
Help out

Finish Accomac’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewHousing for migratory agricultural work…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Accomac’s history

What year was Accomac founded?

In 1786, according to Wikidata. Accomac’s post office opened in 1792, and the census of 1950 counted 500 people here.

What is on the National Register in Accomac?

Three places: the St. James Church (listed 1969), the Debtors' Prison (1976) and the Accomac Historic District (1982).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From the Library of Congress (6), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.