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Location of seat: Accomac
County Established: 1634
Present Courthouse Built: 1899 |
Accomac Shire was one of Virginia's eight original shires, founded in 1634...in fact, if you want to go alphabetically, Accomac was Virginia's very first shire! The shire was named after the Accawmack Indians, who were discovered living in the area when the English conducted their initial exploration in 1603.
A desire to get rid of "heathen names" led to its being renamed Northampton Shire in 1643, but then in 1663 the shire, which included all of the "Virginia shore" ('Accawmack' means on the other side), was split into two counties: Accomac to the north, and Northampton to the south.
The Civil War didn't make it to Accomac County, so its original courthouse, built in 1756 in Drummondtown, was still around in 1885 when the decision was made to renovate it, as opposed to razing it and building a new courthouse. The life-giving railroad had passed Drummondtown by, however, thanks at least in part to a judge named John W. Gillet, who didn't want those noisy locomotoves scooting about in his personal vicinity. The railroad had blessed the newly-chartered town of Parksley, some ten miles to the north of Drummondtown...and a campaign was initiated to move the county seat, and build a new courthouse in Parksley.
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The Drummondtown vs. Parksley debate raged until 1895, when Drummondtown confused everybody by renaming itself Accomac, and 'twas decided at a referendum that it would remain the county seat.  |
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Accomack County didn't officially receive its present spelling until 1940, when Virginia's General Assembly voted in that final 'k'...but the county seat remains a stubbornly k-less Accomac.
Somewhat unusually for Virginia's county seats, Accomac retains both its Clerk's Office, which dates to 1887, and its "debtors prison," which was built in 1783. Originally serving as a residence for the county's jailer, this small structure was made more secure with the addition of iron bars and locks in 1842, whereupon it became a prison for Accomack County's wicked debtors.
A weird little stretch of offices next to the Clerk's Office makes up lawyer's row, and a small cannon sits rusting before the courthouse, perhaps in the spot where the Confederate Monument would be, if Parksley weren't such a bunch of jerks. |
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 Inside Accomack County's Debtors Prison |
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Accomack County's Confederate Monument is, as aforementioned, in the town of Parksley, which is just about three miles north of Accomac. A Virginia county having its Confederate monument somewhere other than on its courthouse green is unusual, but there was a great deal of weird jockeying betwixt Accomac and Parksley for dominance in the county, and while Accomac won the county seat prize, Parksley stole Accomac's thunder by building a Confederate monument first.
Parksley's monument was erected in 1913 and is of the fairly standard pattern for such Virginia monuments: A four-sided obelisk with a slouch-hatted Confederate atop.
Despite its acrimonious history with Accomac, Parksley is a lovely little town that grew up around its wee railroad station. There is a railroad museum, complete with dining- and sleeper cars, right across the street (and tracks) from the Confederate monument. |
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