Uarren Hecnrd
Section B *»■"***« m«v4i*u Section B
A Memorable Cruise To Tangier Island
By BIGN ALL JONES
Children of Tangier, a small Island in Chesapeake
Bay, still walk to school and carry their lunches.
There are no buses rolling to and from the accredit
ed school and few motor vehicles to endanger little
children walking, often hand in hand, to the school.
Classes are small as the total enrollment of the
school is around 125 with classes taught from
kindergarten through high school. There are no
troubles with segregation as there are no minori
ties living on the island. The principal is a native, a
veteran of World War II, with two degrees from the
University of Virginia, whose dream has always
been to be a principal of Tangier High School.
Neither is there any cause for religious quarreling
among the 850 inhabitants of the island who are
devout believers in the teaching of the Bible and
most of whom belong to the Methodist Church.
There is but one other church on the island, an
interdenominational church.
Women on Tangier Island remain at home while
the men go to sea in their own fishing boats seeking
crabs, (as Tangier is the soft crab capital of the
world) clams and a large variety of fish, and one
local historian said that this adds to peacefulness of
the island, as the men leave home before daylight,
and are in bed by 10 p. m., thus creating no disturb
ance from late parties.
In its November 1973 issue, The National Geo
graphic published an article, entitled "This Is My
Island Tangier," by Harold G. Wheatley. Wheatley
is now principal of the Tangier High School. A copy
of the November 1973 National Geographic may be
found in many local libraries and is filed away by
many subscribers to this magazine. Other informa
tion about this historical island may be found in
"Visitors Guide to Tangier Island, Va." and
"Something Fishy from Tangier," both of which
may be obtained from the museum gift shop on the
island. Also for sale at the gift shop is "20-Fathoms
Cook Book Tangier Style," which contains over a
hundred recipes. It is priced at $2.00. "Something
Fishy from Tangier" sells for $1.50.
Origin of the name Tangier is not certain, but it
has been suggested that the island was named by
Captain John Smith for Tangier, Africa, where he
was once held prisoner. Captain Smith visited the
island in 1608. The first white man to own the island
was a Mr. West from the mainland who bought the
land from the Indians for two overcoats. In 1666,
according to a cruise bulletin, he sold part of the
island to John Crockett who settled there in 1666
with his wife and four sons. Tangier families inter
married and today there are many families of the
same name such as Crockett, Dies, Parks, Pruitt,
Thomas and Wheatley.
"Tangier is a romantic destination for those who
would see a largely unspoiled fishing village, 'the
soft shell crab capital' of the world. Although mod
ernization has come to the island it still has not lost
its charm " The island is 2% miles long and only
about 4 feet above sealevel. When the British came
there in 1814, the island was about half a mile wider
and about 14 feet above sea level. Erosion has taken
its toll and a fort and fortifications built by the
British are now under water. There are some 850
residents on Tangier Island today, all of English
descent.
The only way to reach the island is by air or by
boat. A mail and passenger boat leaves Crisfield,
Md., at 12:30 p. m. six days a week, and leaves
Tangier for Crisfield, Md. at 8 a. m. It takes one
hour and 10 minutes to cross the 12 miles. The other
boat route leads from Reedville, Va., to Tangier and
it takes an hour and 45 minutes to cover the 20 miles.
This cruiser operates only during the summer
months and reservations are necessary, and
persons wishing to board the boat should call or
write Tangier and Chesapeake Cruise, Inc.,
Warsaw, Va. 22572. Phone (804) 333-4656. The
Reedville-Tangier route is the one we took, going
from Warrenton by Richmond, Va. On the way to an
embarking point, we were fortunate enough to visit
Reedville, the menhaden capital of the nation,
which is an unusually beautiful town. It is said to be
the richest town per capita in Virginia, and the
Tangier Island, only four feet above sea level, has
the appearance of floating low in the Chesapeake
Bay at high tide. The island can be reached via
homes and lawns indicate it.
We had been advised to be at the embarkation
point early Sunday morning and arrived before 9:30
a. m. and parked and locked our car. As we
approached the ship we fell into conversation with
one of the passengers who said he was Bill Land
from South Hill, Va., and asked us if we knew Mrs.
Sallie Baskervill and her son, Bill. Both are good
friends of ours. Mr. Land was making his second
visit to Tangier, having visited there in 1941.
We boarded the luxurious "Captain Thomas," at
Reedville, Va., at 10 a. m. This 70-foot sight-seeing
ship is equipped with rest rooms, snack bar and
stereo music. It is approved by the Coast Guard to
carry 150 passengers and designed for pleasant
cruising on the Chesapeake Bay.
"The trip on the Captain Thomas is something of
a passage through history, social and economic,"
states the brochure handed passengers. "Reedville
is the center of the Chesapeake Bay menhaden
fishing industry and the ship often passes a fish boat
setting a purse seine around a huge school of fish. It
also crosses the ship channel with its traffic of
freighters bound to and from Baltimore, Washing
ton and Norfolk."
Frequent comments on interesting objects passed
by the ship and on Tangier by Captain Thomas
Pearsall reached the passengers over loudspeak
ers. He informed us that Tangier had no jail and
said that was due to the fact that "there are no
Baptists on the Island." As we were passing two
large ships in the Bay he informed us that they were
target ships bombed frequently with smoke bombs
by members of the U. S. Airmen. He said both
ships, one of which had been split in half, were
World War n Liberty Ships, built by Kaiser Ship
building Company, built hastily at the rate of one a
day, in sections. The split in one of the ships, he
said, was not caused by a bomb, but by being
pounded on the bottom of the bay by winds and
tide.
Of special interest, to us from Warrenton, was
Captain Thomas' account of the British assault on
Fort McHenry, Maryland, in 1814. Twelve thousand
to 14,000 British marines had been quartered on
ships off Tangier in preparation for this assault.
Prior to their sailing Francis Scott Key had visited
the island in an effort to affect a prisoner exchange,
but was charged with being a spy and carried on a
war ship by the British to Fort McHenry. While
watching the bombardment of the fort, Key wrote
"The Star Spangled Banner." Of interest to us is
that Key's granddaughter is buried in the grave
yard of the Warrenton Episcopal Church. Key's
daughter married Congressman James Turner of
Warren County, and later the family lived in War
renton while Turner was principal of a Warrenton
school
cruise ships sailing from both Virginia and
Maryland. A mail boat and private planes also visit
the island regularly.
Thomas Pearsall also pointed out to us a number
of ships using purse seines.
After a delightful cruise of one hour and forty-five
minutes the ship docked at Tangier where we were
met by a guide and led a short distance down a
narrow street to The Chesapeake House where we,
with many others, enjoyed a never-to-be-forgotten
family style dinner. The menu consisted of ham,
clam fritters, crab cakes (the best I ever tasted),
apple sauce, potato salad, beets, corn pudding,
English peas, slaw, homemade rolls, iced tea and
pound cake.
About a dozen persons were seated around our
table and dishes were passed back and forth in a
manner reminiscent of a custom in my boyhood.
After eating such a hearty meal, I thought we
would walk it off, but such was not the case as I
found that my wife had bought tickets for a ride
over the Island in mini-taxis converted from golf
carts. There were a number of such carts with wo
men drivers who explained various items of interest
as we rode down the narrow streets and along some
paths.
Of deep disappointment to my wife, Grace, was
the discovery that picket fences that once surround
ed each yard had been replaced by chain-link
fences. A guide later explained to us that the fences
were erected primarily to keep dogs out of the
gardens, as all the residents had good gardens, and
that the women not only served bountiful meals to
their husbands, but did much preserving of fruits
and vegetables while the men folks were out fishing.
The dinner that we enjoyed consisted of vegeta
bles taken from these gardens and from crabs and
clams taken from the Bay. Incidentally, we learned
that lodging is available at The Chesapeake House,
where meals are served, and that for those who do
not prefer the family style dinner, there are hot
dogs and hamburgers, and sandwiches served near
the wharf, and that picnic tables are provided for
those who prefer to bring their own lunches. Captain
Pearsall had told the passengers just before we
disembarked to leave all alcoholic drinks on the
boat as Tangier had enjoyed prohibition since 1831.
That fact, with the further fact that the population is
homogeneous, and busy, has a great more to do
with lack of crime than no Baptists in the popula
tion.
Unless the jail has been abolished since 1973,
Captain Pearsall had been given the wrong
information about the jail, for School Principal
Wheatley, in his article on Tangier in the November
1973 issue of The National Geographic, says that
"we do have a jail in the Town Hall, but it is seldom
occupied." He said that major ^rime is almost un
known on Tangier. The town sergeant is mainly
concerned with speeding offenders. (One of the
attractive pictures in the National Geographic
article is that of half a dozen firemen riding a
converted golf cart, such as were used in our tour.)
"In the past few years, motorcycles have come to
Tangier, and some of the young bucks cannot resist
that temptation to roar along faster than our 15
miles-per hour speed limit. Although our main
street is so narrow you can nearly span it with
outstretched arms, we now have 30 motorcycles and
motor scooters, seven cars and four trucks. If two
cars meet on the main street, one has to give way
and back up to the nearest side road.
"Offenders are assigned to public work: cleaning
the cemeteries, streets and other public places.
Normally the sentence is for one or two weeks. The
lawbreakers remain at liberty during the night but
report to the town sergeant every morning."
After completing our golf cart tour of the Island,
we had about an hour to spend before re-embarking
on our ship for a return trip to the mainland at 2:30.
This time was spent at various gift shops and a
museum-gift shop on Main Street, where my wife
picked up several cards, a recipe book, a history of
Tangier, written by a native, and possibly a gift or
two. I enjoyed a short visit with Vernon Bradshaw,
a retired artist, and bought a few black and white
sketches of Tangier scenes, which he had sketched.
He was very friendly. When I questioned the
statement that 90 percent of the island's income was
derived from fishing, he said that he feels that a
fourth of its income comes from tourism, which is
steadily increasing.
in aaaiuon to otner reasons, many persons come
to Tangier to shoot waterfowl, which is prevalent in
the waters around Tangier.
The return trip to Reedville was very pleasant,
although this time we spent about half our time in
the cabin and the remainder on the deck. We saw
many more ships with purse seines, due perhaps
to the time of day, and Captain Pearsall told us that
in winter many fishermen painted their boats
camouflage green for the benefit of sportsmen
drawn to the island by the amount of ducks and
other wildfowl found around Tangier.
We reached Reedville at 4:15 as scheduled, dis
embarked, and after finding our car began the
journey home, knowing that our trip to Tangier was
an experience we would never forget.
of Virginia's Tangier Island. Tourists often
along island paths altar eating a family style
Tangier's harbor. Visitors are totted to bring n