Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge preserves all of Eastern Neck Island at the confluence of the Chester River and Chesapeake Bay as a sanctuary for migratory birds and other wildlife. Long before colonization, Woodland period Native Americans visited the island, and by the colonial era Major Joseph Wickes and Thomas Hynson had assembled and farmed the whole property, with the Wickes family remaining until 1902. In the twentieth century, hunting preserves and a failed subdivision proposal gave way to federal protection as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service acquired the island and established the refuge in 1962. Today it is known for abundant birdlife, active conservation work, and nature tourism.