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1942 Map of Great Machipongo Inlet

Name: 1942 Topographic Map of Great Machipongo Inlet
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1952
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1952

About this map

Cobb Island sits as a narrow barrier between the marshes of Northampton County and the open Atlantic Ocean in this coastal survey. Compiled in part from 1942 aerial photography, the map documents the precarious geography of Virginia’s Eastern Shore during the early 1940s. A specialized infrastructure of maritime communication and safety is evident, including a Submerged Cable and a Telephone Line that cross the shifting dunes and tidal waters.

The central Great Machipongo Inlet serves as the primary gateway from the ocean into the protected waters of Hog Island Bay. Navigational aids like the Great Machipongo Inlet Entrance Light guide vessels through a complex network of seafaring arteries, including the North Channel, Rowes Hole Channel, and Second Channel. The map captures the raw, sandy character of the shoreline before decades of storm-driven erosion further reshaped these barrier islands.