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[From Spring 1996]
Fisherman Island began form during the early 1800's and continues to grow while all the other islands in the chain are shrinking in size and giving way to the constant battering of the sea. On the basis of historical data, Fisherman Island was well established by 1852 as a northwest-southeast trending island.
Probably the most colorful description and recollection of the history of Fisherman Island appears in a deposition taken from John S. Wise on May 6, 1912. The deposition was to be read as evidence in behalf of the United States in a suit of equity against Carman Skidmore, J.E. Skidmore, R. F. Wendell, J. A. White, C. S. Scott, George Stevens and Robert Stevens.
Mr. Wise reported that it was generally believed by many that the island had grown around the bones of a British vessel that had wrecked on shoals at the entrance of the Chesapeake Bay in the 19th century. The vessel's cargo of linen was salvaged by local residents and gave rise to the island's original name, "Linen Bar." Others claimed it took its name because its sands were white and smooth as linen.
Another theory questions the role played by the linen-cargoed vessel. According to this theory, the ship ran aground on shoals which were then called "William Knight Shoals." Therefore, the shipwreck was not an essential ingredient in the history of the island, but rather hastened and localized a phenomenon that was already in progress.
No matter which story or theory you choose, the fact remains that Fisherman Island showed up one day and has continued to grow to this day. There is no evidence as of this writing that the island will stop growing.
John S. Wise recalls a trip to the island in the summer of 1857 when he was between 10 and 11 years old. His father, who was the Governor of Virginia at the time, had set up a fishing party with a few friends. He remembered playing in the white sands and wading in the waters of the Chesapeake Bay. According to Mr. Wise, Fisherman Island was much smaller then than it was in 1912. It was also much lower lying and there were no trees on Fisherman Island.
Some of what John S. Wise states in his deposition is, as he put it, "told to me by the old folks." However, much of what he states in his deposition is backed by history. In 1858 the Commonwealth of Virginia evidently felt that it had no use for the island and ceded title to private ownership by Act of the General Assembly on February 27, 1858. Fisherman Island remained in the possession of private owners until 1886. At that time, Mr. Wise was informed by Dr. J. B. Hamilton, Surgeon General of the Marine Hospital Service, that Fisherman Island was in the possession of the United States Government and that a Marine Hospital Station would be set up on the island. In 1891, following enactment of federal condemnation legislation, the island became a possession of the U.S. government. By this time, a Marine Hospital Station and Quarantine Station were already in operation.
Sailing vessels dropped off sailors suffering front communicable diseases. Infected vessels anchored to the northwest of Fisherman Island and the ship's boats would transfer the ill to the island. It has also been reported that a crematory was built for smallpox victims. However, in an inspection report by the Surgeon General's office dated August 19, 1895, there is no mention of a crematory. The buildings on the island, according to the 1895 report, totaled seven - two barracks, one laundry and dining facility, one disinfecting building and bath house, one pump house, one storehouse on pier head and one keeper’s house. The land area was reported to be twenty-five acres at acquisition.
Fisherman Island was utilized by the Army for harbor defense for the duration of World War 1. In May 1917, two 5-inch guns from Fort Du Pont, Delaware, and two 5-inch guns from Fort Slocum near New Rochelle, New York were transferred to the island. The 4th Company Coast Artillery Corps from Fort Howard arrived in March 1917 and was joined in July 1917 by the 8th Company Coast Artillery Corps from Fort Monroe. The two companies were later joined by 4th Company, Virginia Army National Guard in September. In 1919, the War Department took control of the island. There was little if any significant military activity between World War I and World War II.
The value of Fisherman Island for a refuge was recognized as early as 1933. In a letter sent by the War Department and signed by the Secretary of War, a permit was issued on September 20, 1933 which states, "The Department of Agriculture is hereby granted a permit for the period of five (5) years, revocable at will by the Secretary of War, to use as a migratory bird refuge the Fisherman Island Military Reservation, Virginia."
Upon entry into World War II, the Navy Department used the island for harbor defense and as a submarine detection base. In 1943, the permit to use Fisherman Island as a refuge was terminated by the Navy. The Navy continued to use the island for harbor defense until the Harbor Defense Unit was disestablished in 1962. During that same year, the Navy gave approximately 52 acres to the Chesapeake Bay Ferry District to be used to connect the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel to Fisherman Island and the mainland by means of a bridge and causeway.
The Navy declared Fisherman Island excess property in 1969. In January of 1973, title to Fisherman Island was transferred to the Department of the Interior, placed under the jurisdiction of the Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge, and managed as an unmanned satellite refuge.
Today, Fisherman Island has grown to an estimated 1875 acres of which 1050 acres belongs to the refuge. Twenty five acres are retained by the Navy, and the remainder is privately owned.
With all its colorful history, let's not forget the primary purpose of the Fisherman Island National Wildlife Refuge. It is to serve as a breeding ground and nursery for marsh and water birds, shore birds, gulls, terns and allied species.
Bill DiPrete,
Volunteer at ESVNWR
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