Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge - History

History

The Great Dismal Swamp is in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina between the James River (Norfolk, Virginia) and the Albemarle Sound (Edenton, North Carolina). The original swamp was estimated to be over 1,000,000 acres (400,000 ha); however, human encroachment has destroyed up to 90% of the original swampland.

Beginning in the 1660s, an established community of escaped slaves known as the Great Dismal Swamp maroons lived freely within the Great Dismal Swamp. Most maroons settled in mesic islands, the high and dry parts of the swamp. Maroons were not the only people who lived inside the swamp— some residents had bought their freedom, others were still slaves who lived semi-independently. In addition, some escaped slaves used the swamp as a stop on the Underground Railroad as they made their way further north. Nearby whites often left the maroons alone so long as they paid a quota in logs or shingles.

After centuries of logging and other human activities which were devastating the swamp's ecosystems, in 1973, the Union Camp Corporation donated 49,100 acres (199 km²) of land; the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge was officially established by the U.S. Congress through The Dismal Swamp Act of 1974. Today, the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge is now just over 112,000 acres (45,000 ha) in size.

In 1805, the Dismal Swamp Canal began serving as a commercial highway for timber coming out of the swamp. Today, the canal continues to serve recreational boaters as part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, administered by the United States Army Corps of Engineers.