The Middle Peninsula is the second of three large

peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

s on the western shore of

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula, including parts of the Ea ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. To the north the

Rappahannock River The Rappahannock River is a river in eastern Virginia, in the United States, approximately in length.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 It traverses the enti ...

separates it from the Northern Neck peninsula. To the south the York River separates it from the Virginia Peninsula. It encompasses six Virginia counties:

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

, King and Queen, King William, Mathews, and

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

. Developed for tobacco plantations in the colonial era, in the 21st century the Middle Peninsula is known for its quiet rural life, vegetable truck-farming, and fishing industry. As of the 2020 census, the Middle Peninsula was home to 92,886 people. There are no cities on the Middle Peninsula and little industry. Among the towns found there,

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

has a pulp-and-paper mill. The unincorporated community of Deltaville is a popular spot for city-dwellers seeking a weekend boating on the bay. Tappahannock is a thriving community on the

, and Urbanna has a small but prosperous tourism industry. Two small land reservations are home to the state-recognized Pamunkey and

Mattaponi The Mattaponi () tribe is one of only two Virginia Indian tribes in the Commonwealth of Virginia that owns reservation land, which it has held since the colonial era. The larger Mattaponi Indian Tribe lives in King William County on the rese ...

Indian

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

s. The primary highways on the peninsula are U.S. Route 17 (Tidewater Trail), which connects Fredericksburg with the

Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond, and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's Point near whe ...

area, and U.S. Route 360 (Northumberland Highway), which connects the Northern Neck with Richmond and Danville. Before modern highways existed, passenger ferries and steam freighters linked the entire

region. The two southernmost counties on the Middle Peninsula, Gloucester and Mathews, are now considered to be part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. Gloucester County is connected to the Virginia Peninsula by the George P. Coleman Memorial Bridge, which spans the York River. King William County and King and Queen County to the west are part of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA).

References

External links

middlepeninsula.com
general tourist information {{Virginia Peninsulas of Virginia Regions of Virginia Landforms of Mathews County, Virginia Landforms of Essex County, Virginia Landforms of King and Queen County, Virginia Landforms of Middlesex County, Virginia Landforms of Gloucester County, Virginia

See also

References

External links