Virginia Beach Area Information

A Little Virginia Beach History

The history of Virginia Beach dates back to the 1600s when 104 Englishmen crossed the Atlantic Ocean on the Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery.

When they landed in 1607 they claimed the land for the British crown and named their landing site Cape Henry in honor of King James's son Henry, the Prince of Wales. Today the area is known as First Landing Cross.

During the 1600s and 1700s, the population steadily grew as more English settlers came hoping to find prosperity. Many colonists, such as Captain Adam Thoroughgood, were awarded 100 acres of land for every person whose passage they paid from England.

Plantations were established, often on the shores of the rivers and bays and later became the colonial highways.

In the late 1800s, the U.S. Life-Saving Service constructed a network of five life-saving stations to serve ships sailing along the Atlantic coast. The Seatack Life-Saving Station was built in what is now the center of Virginia Beach. A small settlement grew around the Station as servicemen built homes for their families.

In 1883, a group of businessmen recognized the recreational appeal of the area and built a railroad to bring visitors from Norfolk to the coast and to the beach's first wooden clubhouse built by Colonel Marshall Parks.

In 1884 the first hotel was built and the tourism industry began.

Families built cottages north and south of the hotel and spent their summers relaxing at the beach. Large guesthouses and other hotels followed and in 1906 the resort community incorporated and became the town of Virginia Beach.

The U.S. military played a large part in the further development of Virginia Beach.

Since World War II, army, navy and national guard commands have operated in the city limits. The Little Creek Amphibious Training Command is the largest base of its kind in the world. The Naval Air Station Oceana is an important jet base.

Virginia's seaside resort is the state's most populous city today with more than 425,000 people.

The population doubled between 1980 and 1990 and welcomes 2.6 million visitors annually. Tourism naturally is the number one industry.

Virginia Beach has come a long way since its discovery and settlement in the early 1600s from a British settlement and U.S. Coast Guard town to a large tourism attraction.