Bower's Hill, which was in now-extinct
Norfolk County near the northeastern edge of the
Great Dismal Swamp, became a crossroads as highways and railroads were built through the area in the 20th century. The natural terrain of the
coastal plain of the
Tidewater area is very flat and sandy. The combination of
U.S. Highway 13,
U.S. Highway 58, and
U.S. Highway 460, known as the
Military Highway, was a 4-lane undivided highway that was built about 1943. A large s-shaped highway overpass was constructed to carry the traffic across the
Seaboard Air Line Railroad tracks to eliminate an at-grade crossing and to allow an interchange with Airline Boulevard. The highway there originally was 4-lane undivided with a 45-mph S-curve as the highway passed on a bridge over the railroad, and with short approach fills with considerable grades to the bridge. Although the name Bower's Hill was attached to the area as early as the 19th century, as one of the highest features for miles around, the newly created overpass at Bower's Hill became something of a landmark for travelers in the 1950s and 1960s before creation of the U.S. Interstate Highway System beginning in 1956. Many people concluded (incorrectly) that the new overpasses were the source of the name. Others speculated that the hill was named after Chey "Lost an Argument" Bowers. In 1963, the voters of Norfolk County and the independent city of
South Norfolk chose to consolidate into a new city, and
Chesapeake was formed. Still-rural Bower's Hill became a borough of the new city. It is bordered to the north by another borough,
Western Branch. ==Hampton Roads Beltway==