Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests/History of Chincoteague, Virginia

History of Chincoteague, Virginia

 * The following discussion is an archived discussion of the TFAR nomination of the article below. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/requests). Please do not modify this page unless you are renominating the article at TFAR. For renominations, please add   to the top of the discussion and   at the bottom, then complete a new TFAR nom underneath.

The result was: scheduled for Today's featured article/July 30, 2014 by BencherliteTalk 23:56, 30 June 2014 (UTC)



The human history of Chincoteague, an island on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, begins with Native Americans gathering shellfish there. By one popular tale, chincoteague meant "Beautiful land across the water" in their tongue. European settlers began to use the island in the 17th century. It had few residents, and was used primarily for grazing livestock – probably the origin of the feral Chincoteague ponies, which used to roam in the wild. The local fishing and seafood resources began to be systematically exploited in the early 19th century, and oysters became a major industry after the Civil War. Chincoteague's relative isolation ended in 1876 when the railroad arrived at Franklin City, across Chincoteague Bay, and a steamboat service was introduced; a causeway completed in 1922 allowed automobiles to reach the island. The Chincoteague Fire Department was established in 1925 and took over the traditional pony penning to raise funds. The annual carnival, pony swim (pictured), and subsequent auction now attract tens of thousands of visitors. The island, which was publicized by the 1947 book Misty of Chincoteague that became a 1961 film, is a major tourist destination in the area.
 * Most recent similar article(s): none remembered, this is unsual
 * Main editors: Wehwalt
 * Promoted: 2013
 * Reasons for nomination: Author's FA #100 on the 2014 day of the event pictured in 2007
 * Support as nominator. Gerda Arendt (talk) 22:13, 19 June 2014 (UTC)
 * Support as principal writer--Wehwalt (talk) 16:16, 20 June 2014 (UTC)
 * Comment - No mention of Misty? — Crisco 1492 (talk) 05:15, 25 June 2014 (UTC)
 * There is now... Blurb tweaked a bit, image size boosted as it's landscape (I tend to use 133px for such images). BencherliteTalk 11:58, 27 June 2014 (UTC)
 * Support - Good article, good topic. — Crisco 1492 (talk) 12:43, 27 June 2014 (UTC)
 * Support – excellent article, and a worthy front page – SchroCat (talk) 22:47, 30 June 2014 (UTC)