Hotel Directory > United States Hotels > Virginia Hotels > Chincoteague, VA Hotels

This is the current conditions weather report for Chincoteague. The report was made 70 minutes ago, at 05:54 UTC. The wind was blowing at a speed of 5 miles per hour / 7.4 kilometers per hour from the northwest (320°). The temperature was 25°F / -4°C, with a dew-point at 25°F / -4°C. The temperature felt like 19°F / -7°C. The atmospheric pressure was 30.15 inHg / 1022 hPa. The relative humidity was 59%. The skies were clear.

Chincoteague is a town in Accomack County, Virginia, United States. The population was 4,317 at the 2000 census. The town is perhaps best known for its feral ponies, although these are not actually on the island of Chincoteague but on the nearby Assateague Island. Also relating to Chincoteague is Marguerite Henry's book Misty of Chincoteague, which is about Chincoteague's annual Pony Penning Day. It was made into the 1961 film Misty, which was filmed on-location, and has become an all-time favorite family film.

In this event, which has been held since 1925, horses swim across the shallow water between the islands. If any animal is too small or weak to make the swim, they are placed on a barge and ferried over. All the horses are herded into large pens after running through the middle of town and down Main Street. The Pony Penning takes place on the last consecutive Wednesday & Thursday in July. The actual swim will occur on Wednesday, and the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Department auctions off that year's foals on Thursday, and on Friday the remaining ponies swim back to Assateague. Legend has it that the ponies on Assateague are descendants of survivors of a Spanish galleon that sank on its way to Mexico during a storm off the coast of the island.

The breed has come to be called Chincoteague Ponies.
Tourism increased after the completion of the bridge to Assateague in 1962 and is now the primary industry.

Contribute Chincoteague Tourist Info.
Expand Window | Collapse Window