Emergency Biohazard Cleanup Near West Melfa Melfa, VA

Melfa is an incorporated town in Accomack County on Virginia's Eastern Shore, the part of the Delmarva Peninsula between the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.

Melfa developed around a railroad station established in 1884 along the rail line that ran down the spine of the Eastern Shore.

The town was incorporated in 1951, a step its own comprehensive plan ties to the purchase of a fire engine for the community.

Melfa had 396 residents at the 2020 census, down 2.9 percent from 408 residents in 2010.

At the 2000 census, Melfa's 450 residents lived in 183 households, and the town's population peaked at 459 people back in 1970.

Melfa is tiny in area, covering only about 0.3 square mile of land at an elevation of about 49 feet.

Census Bureau survey estimates have put Melfa's median age in the mid-50s, roughly 17 years higher than the national median, reflecting an older-than-average population.

Melfa is home to Eastern Shore Community College, which joined the Virginia Community College System in 1971 and serves both Accomack and Northampton counties.

Eastern Shore Community College began as a branch of the University of Virginia located near Wallops Island, then moved to its current roughly 115-acre campus on U.S. Route 13 at Melfa in 1974.

The college marked its 50th anniversary in 2021 by opening a new $22 million academic and administration building on the Melfa campus.