Feature Articles

Born in Mountain Top, Pennsylvania in the Pocono Mountains, Apolla Roth is a transplant to the Northern Neck by way of Chesterfield. She and her husband owned a small weekend cottage on Gwynn’s Island in Mathews County and when they outgrew it a few years ago, the couple sold that...

With just under 350 acres of land, about 380 residents, one operating restaurant, and more golf carts than cars, one might think Tangier Island can be explored in just a matter of an hour or two. However, the one of a kind eroding island is filled with so much natural...

  Tappahannock holds the distinction as being a gateway of sorts. Although not part of the Northern Neck, for many traveling to the region, arriving in Tappahannock signals that you’ve officially made it to “The Rivah.” It is here where traffic thins, the pace slows and the Rappahannock, with the...

Dickie Hudgins of Mathews Courthouse is one of just a few watermen still around who hangs gillnets for recreational and commercial gillnetters. It is a coastal craft that he learned right out of high school. Soon after graduating from Mathews High School in 1958, Hudgins, 82, went to work on...

Story and photos by Lisa Hinton-Valdrighi - Yorktown Pub is more than the name implies. Situated on Water Street, overlooking the state’s most historic beach and the York River, Yorktown Pub is perfect for a girls’ day lunch, a bite while you’re visiting Yorktown or the beach or a date-night...

Interesting history surrounds Mathews County landmark The world once moved by wind on water. As a new nation was forming in America, ships needed help with navigation of Chesapeake Bay. Congress authorized building lighthouses in 1801 and on Jan. 17, 1805, the New Point Comfort Lighthouse beamed from the southern tip of...

compiled by Lisa Hinton-Valdrighi - (For more pictures and info on this article, check out our online edition on the Rivah Visitor's Guide.) A simple glance at a map of the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula reveals dozens of place names with a nod to our area’s Native American heritage. Many...

by Jackie Nunnery - Some call it Grit Lit or Southern Noir, others call it just a plain good read. But whatever you call it, Gloucester writer Sean Cosby is currently at the top of this crime fiction genre. As the saying goes, crime doesn’t pay, but writing about it...

story and photos by Lisa Hinton-Valdrighi - Lottsburg is one of those quaint villages that if you blink passing through you might miss it. What you don’t want to miss is Cygnets restaurant smack in the middle of the village. The building, originally Watkins General Store, circa 1921, has served...

Visions of summer in coastal and rural Virginia include glasses of cold sweet tea, honeysuckles lining dirt roads, driving with the top-down, summertime carnivals, baseball, softball, and the beach. Whether you’re a sun worshiper determined to soak in as many rays as possible, an adventure seeker looking for your...