Misty of Chincoteague: What’s happening with the Beebe Ranch a year after being saved?

George Noleff
·2 min read

CHINCOTEAGUE, Va. (WFXR) — In April of 2023, the future of the Beebe Ranch was in question. Now, a year later, the ranch is being restored.

The ranch, along with the annual Chincoteague pony swim, was made world-famous in the Misty of Chincoteague series of books by Marguerite Henry. The Beebe Ranch was where much of the story took place, and was also the home, for a time, of the real-life Misty that books are based on.

Through the years the ranch had shrunk. Parcels had been sold, though it still remained in operation by the Beebe family. Now, the family wanted to sell the remaining 10-acre parcel. Developers wanted to buy it. The Museum of Chincoteague Island wanted to preserve it. That would mean an enormous fundraising drive by the museum to get the funds needed for the purchase. It would cost $625,000.

Donations flooded in from thousands of people around the globe, and the museum was able to save the ranch.

“Unbelievable, a dream come true,” said Museum of Chincoteague Island Executive Director Cindy Faith.

Faith says the love of the Misty books by millions of people made preserving the ranch possible.

“Marguerite Henry, what a great author, she just really knew how to write a story where kids just feel a part of it,” Faith said. “The stories are timeless, and we couldn’t be luckier.”

The cover of the Marguerite Henry novel, “Misty of Chincoteague”
The cover of the Marguerite Henry novel, “Misty of Chincoteague”

You see the love and passion every day when visitors come to the museum. They come because of their love of the Misty story.

“This was a bucket list thing for me,” said Leanne Schneider of Kankakee, Illinois. “This is somewhere I’ve always wanted to see, Chincoteague where Misty came from.”

Now, the work on the ranch and ranch house have begun. The effort will restore it to what it was historically, and then open it up for museum visitors. That should happen within a year. The plans also call for the rebuilding of a barn that was destroyed by fire, and classroom learning center.

A.J. Savage works on the Beebe Ranch restoration (Photo: George Noleff)
A.J. Savage works on the Beebe Ranch restoration (Photo: George Noleff)

“If Misty only knew, right?” said Faith. “Nobody living here at the time could have possibly imagined,80 years what people would be saying and thinking about a book that was written about the island. it’s really mind-blowing.”

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