CHINCOTEAGUE, Va. — A beloved horse ranch on the Eastern Shore won't be sold to real estate developers.
On Friday, the Museum of Chincoteague Island announced that it purchased Beebe Ranch on Facebook.
The ranch is the real-life location and setting for the famed and popular children's novel "Misty of Chincoteague" written by Marguerite Henry in 1947. The novel brought generations of readers and fans to the once 100-acre plot of land on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.
For generations, readers grew attached to real-life pony "Misty" as well as the ranch, and at its height, the property was the home to as many as 150 ponies near the Virginia-Maryland border.
13News Now spoke to Beebe Ranch owner Billy Beebe last month. He said it was time to move on and sell the ranch after it had been in his family since the early 1900s.
While developers had approached him about purchasing the land, he said he'd rather have his ranch go somewhere else.
That's where the Museum of Chincoteague Island stepped in.
The museum's board made the decision to try and fundraise $625,000 — the amount the Beebes were offered — to purchase the ranch and make it a permanent fixture of their museum and history.
And on Friday, the museum finally reached its goal.
"...The Museum of Chincoteague Island owns the Beebe Ranch and it is 100% paid in full. This would not of happened without your help and the thousands of people who have made a donation! We thank you all!" museum officials wrote on Facebook.