 According to a nearby Virginia state highway marker, Onancock was founded in 1680.A courthouse was established some years after, and militia barracks established during the Revolution.Some thirteen months after Cornwallis' October 1781 surrender at Yorktown, Commodore Zedechiah Whaley sought aid from Onancock during a naval campaign against British barges of war that had been harassing the shores and farms of Chesapeake Bay.