Captina Island once bustled with activity. In addition to being farmed, as so many islands were, the island was also immediately adjacent to a company town, a mining settlement that today has been largely forgotten. The woods on the mainland near the island are littered with the foundations of the old houses, and the area is dangerous for exploring on account of open cisterns and hidden basements. Some of the plant life might be thought of as living history, including a large infestation of kudzu.
The backchannel of the island, so narrow and shallow it more strongly resembles a broad creek, was once the playground for children -- it's exciting to imagine them there, swimming in the water and swinging from ropes attached to overhanging trees. Today it is eerily quiet and abandoned, and the water is so shallow most of the time that even a kayak is likely to run aground.
Public Access: Fish Creek Public Access Site, 11 miles south of Moundsville , WV, off SR 2 at mouth of Fish Creek.
