Cooperative Living June 2016 - 33

In the
early 1900s,
watermen occupied
almost every home
on Riverside Drive
on Mulberry
Bay.
The village name originates from its
beginnings as Morraughtacund Indian
grounds, Mary explains. Capt. John Smith's
logs show he encountered the tribe on his
exploration of the Rappahannock River in
1608. Some 500 acres became known as
Morattico Plantation in 1698 under the
ownership of Col. Joseph Matthaus Ball,
father of Mary Ball, famous as the mother
to the nation's first president and
grandmother to a Supreme Court justice.
The agricultural property remained with
Ball's descendants until 1889 when the
Whealton brothers purchased much of it
and developed a village, building houses
and a steamboat landing. From 18921911,
it was called Whealton's Wharf.
The turn of the century was a
prosperous time when people and most
goods were transported by boat. Skiffs
were a popular means of getting to church
or visiting friends across the creek. By the
1920s, Morattico had become a bustling
stop on the steamboat line to Baltimore.
The village had the longest wharf on the
Rappahannock River, reaching well into its
navigable depths. For a dime, young boys
would haul passengers' baggage up and
down the wharf in small wagons.
" In addition to steamboat traffic, the
community boasted a doctor's office,
stores, a small cafe, hotel, seafoodprocessing
plant and bottling company, "
says Mary. The Lord Mott tomatoprocessing
plant was located next to the
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wharf. And children attended Frog Pond
School on Mulberry Creek Road.
The area's identity as a fishing village
was a result of the Tangier Island
migration to Morattico after the great
storm of 1933 flooded the tiny island in
the middle of the Chesapeake Bay and
forced some families to relocate to their
favorite fishing spot.
The storm also wiped out virtually all
the steamboat wharfs on the rivers. As a
result of this, coupled with a growing auto
industry, the romantic steamboat era had
come to an end.
For the village, Tangier families like
Parks, Walters and Pruett added to the
strength of a self-sustaining village that
was now reliant on the rich resources of
the water.
FISHING VILLAGE
Perched on the north shore of the
Rappahannock River between Lancaster
Creek and Mulberry Bay, Morattico is the
perfect spot from which to find the area's
famous blue crabs. The water's low salinity
also makes for a flavorful and meaty oyster.
" My father moved us up here in 1941
from Windmill Point, when I was 1 year
old, " says retired waterman, Capt. George
Shelton. " He was a pound netter. It was
easier here than in the bay. "
Pound netting is an ancient fishing
method where nets are set near the shore.
An arrangement of nets, supported with
pine poles pounded into the seabed,
guide a variety of fish into a trap where
they are scooped out each morning by
watermen.
George worked his dad's nets for seven
or eight years before he went out on his
own and branched into crabbing and
oystering on his 41-foot Chesapeake
dead-rise.
" I loved it. I was self-employed and
free to do what I wanted to do, " he says
of his 52-year career.
Working on the water meant casting
off before daybreak from the backyard
pier. The smell of engine exhaust and the
steady rumble of motors filled the air as
workboats chugged off into the darkness.
On a good day, a veteran waterman could
tong baskets of oysters or bring up
bushels of blue crabs from traps.
These were men who could build
their own boats and knit fishing nets.
About the only things they could count
on were callused hands, a bad back,
unpredictable weather, unreliable catches
and uneven income.
" I would never let my son become
a waterman, " George says of his
waterman days.
In the first half of the century, the
waters around the village were filled with
several dozen working boats and
processing shacks lined the shore. RCV
Seafood was one of the largest crabmeat
businesses on the East Coast.
June 2016 | Cooperative Living | 31
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Cooperative Living June 2016

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