The GHOTES Hog Island Connection

In the late 1800's, at least five lavish hunting and fishing clubs were established on Virginia's barrier islands; one of the largest was in the town of Broadwater, on Hog Island. The town, located in a pine forest near the middle of the island, at its height had a population of about 300 and contained 50 houses, a lighthouse, a school, and a church and cemetery. Erosion destroyed the lighthouse before 1930, and in 1933 a hurricane inundated all of Hog Island, destroying much of the town and killing the protective pine forest. By the early 1940's, all inhabitants had left the island. The former site of the town is now under several meters of water and hundreds of meters from the shore.
(From the USGS as modified from Rice, Niedoroda, and Pratt, The coastal processes and geology: Virginia barrier islands, vol. 1 (Ecosystem description), part B, of Virginia Coast Reserve Study conducted by the Nature Conservancy.)

This section of the GHOTES Web site is dedicated to Hog Island, Hog Islanders, and Hog Island lovers. We'll be adding stories, maps, photos, census information, and family trees. We begin with an incredible file generously shared by Yvonne Marshall Widgeon, who, like so many others moved from Hog Island, resides now in Willis Wharf. Yvonne has provided us with glimpses as well as photos of Hog Island as only our senior Islanders can remember.

Here you will find links to other GHOTES pages that are related to Hog Island life, and links to other sites on the Internet. 

If you have family ties to Hog Island, we'd love to add the information to this section of the GHOTES Web site. Please let me know. . 

Meanwhile, enjoy. 

Miss Nancy Kelly Great great great grandmother of Yvonne Marshall Widgeon
Days Gone By
 from the Photographic Treasures of
Yvonne Marshall Widgeon
Willis Wharf


For the following links, use the back button of your browser to return to this page.

 

DOCUMENTS  ABOUT THE COAST GUARD RESCUE OF 1892
Provided by Ruth Williams

HOG ISLAND RESIDENTS IN 1850
from the 1850 Census
transcribed by Nanette Davis

HOG ISLAND RESIDENTS IN 1903
from a 1903 pamphlet by Hog Island’s lighthouse keeper, Charles A. Sterling

HOG ISLAND CHRISTMAS
an excerpt from Yesterday's Hog Island
by Edna M. Marstad

 HOG ISLAND HISTORY BRIEF
article excerpt 

HOG ISLAND SNOW CREAM
From the recipes of Mary Burgess

ORIGINAL HOG ISLAND STATION
From ghote Denis Wood

WHAT HAPPENED TO HOG ISLAND LIGHT?
 from ghote Ruth Williams

PHOTOS OF HOG ISLAND
from ghote Bob Burns

PHOTOS OF THE HOG ISLAND LIGHT
from ghotes Denis Wood and Sandy Perkins

A POEM ABOUT HOG ISLAND - OUR ISLAND HOME
by Yvonne Marshall Widgeon

Elsewhere on the Web
The following links take you off the GHOTES Web site. Don't forget to use the back button of your browers to return to GHOTES.

Hog Island Webcam
Provided by the Virginia Coast Reserve.  Long Term Ecological Research.
Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia
Go to the Webcam Page

Dramatic 1892 Hog Island Rescue
"Despite one fatality, one of the most notable rescues of 1892 was that conducted by the crew of the Hog Island (VA) Station (Fifth District) in landing twenty-six persons from the Spanish steamship San Albano on 24 February 1892."
Read about the San Abano Rescue

from the 18th century or earlier!
from the Oklahoma State University Board of Regents (really)

See An Animated Model of How Hog Island Changed from 1852 to 1990.
 from the Virginia Coast Reserve

Great Photos of Hog Island, taken February 15, 2002
from the Virginia Coast Reserve

Fascinating Current Research Showing Tidal and Water Flow Patterns in and Around Hog Island Bay. (You've got to see this.)
from the University of Virginia and the Virginia Coast reserve

An Outline of the Changing Shore
from the USGS

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Page updated February 16, 2004 (wls)



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