The
Chesepian were the historic indigenous people of the area now known as
Tidewater in Virginia at the time of European encounter. Little is known about them but archeological evidence suggests they may have been related to the
Carolina Algonquian, or Pamlico people. They would have spoken one of the
Algonquian languages. These were common among the numerous tribes of the coastal area, who made up the loose
Powhatan Confederacy, numbering in the tens of thousands in population. The Chesepian occupied an area which is now defined as the independent cities of Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, and Virginia Beach. In 1607, after a voyage of 144 days, three ships headed by Captain
Christopher Newport, and carrying 105 men and boys, made their first landfall in the New World on the mainland, where the southern mouth of the Chesapeake Bay meets the
Atlantic Ocean. They named it Cape Henry, after
Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of King
James I of England. These English colonists of the
Virginia Company of London moved on from this area, as they were under orders to seek a site further inland, which would be more sheltered from ships of competing European countries. They created their first permanent settlement on the north side of the
James River at
Jamestown.
Adam Thoroughgood (1604–1640) of
King's Lynn,
Norfolk, England is one of the earliest Englishmen to settle in this area, which was developed as Virginia Beach. At the age of 18, he had contracted as an
indentured servant to pay for passage to the
Virginia Colony in the hopes of bettering his life. He earned his freedom after several years and became a leading citizen of the area. In 1629, he was elected to the
House of Burgesses for
Elizabeth Cittie , one of four "cities" (or incorporations) which were subdivided areas established in 1619. Lower Norfolk County was large when first organized, defined as from the Atlantic Ocean west past the
Elizabeth River, encompassing the entire area now within the modern cities of Portsmouth, Norfolk, Chesapeake, and Virginia Beach. It attracted many entrepreneurs, including William Moseley with his family in 1648. Belonging to the Merchant Adventurers Guild of London, he immigrated from
Rotterdam of the
Netherlands, where he had been in international trade. He settled on land on the north side of the
Elizabeth River, east of what developed as
Norfolk. Following the increased settlement, in 1691 Lower Norfolk County was divided to form
Norfolk and
Princess Anne counties. Princess Anne, the easternmost county in South Hampton Roads, extended from Cape Henry at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, south to what became the border of the North Carolina colony. It included all of the area fronting the Atlantic Ocean. Princess Anne County was known as a jurisdiction from 1691 to 1963, over 250 years. In the early centuries, this area was rural and developed for plantation agriculture. In the late 19th century, the small resort area of Virginia Beach developed in Princess Anne County after the 1883 arrival of rail service to the coast. The Virginia Beach Hotel was opened and operated by the Norfolk and Virginia Beach Railroad and Improvement Company at the oceanfront, near the tiny community of
Seatack. The hotel was foreclosed and the railroad was reorganized in 1887. The hotel was upgraded and reopened in 1888 as the Princess Anne Hotel. In 1891, guests at the new hotel watched the wreck and rescue efforts of the
United States Life-Saving Service for the Norwegian barque
Dictator. The ship's figurehead, which washed up on the beach several days later, was erected as a monument to the victims and rescuers. It stood along the oceanfront for more than 50 years. In the 21st century, it inspired the pair of matching
Norwegian Lady Monuments, sculpted by
Ørnulf Bast and installed in Virginia Beach and
Moss, Norway. The resort initially depended on
railroad and
electric trolley service. The completion of
Virginia Beach Boulevard in 1922, which extended from Norfolk to the oceanfront, opened the route for
automobiles,
buses, and
trucks. The passenger rail service to the oceanfront was eventually discontinued as traffic increased by vehicles. The growing resort of Virginia Beach became an
incorporated town in 1906. Over the next 45 years, Virginia Beach continued to grow in popularity as a seasonal vacation spot. The casinos were replaced by amusement parks and family-oriented attractions. In 1927 The
Cavalier Hotel opened and became a popular vacation spot. Virginia Beach gained status as an independent city in 1952, although ties remained between it and Princess Anne County. In 1963, after voters in the two jurisdictions passed a supporting referendum, and with the approval of the
Virginia General Assembly, the two political subdivisions were consolidated as a new, much larger independent city, retaining the better-known name of the Virginia Beach resort. The Alan B. Shepard Civic Center ("The Dome"), a significant building in the city's history because of the many famous musical acts played there, was constructed in 1958, and was dedicated to the career of former Virginia Beach resident and astronaut
Alan Shepard. As the area changed, the Dome was frequently used as a bingo hall. The building was razed in 1994 The Convention Center opened in 2005. The city has begun to run out of clear land available for new construction north of the Green Line, an
urban growth boundary dividing the urban northern and rural southern sections of the city. Infill and development of residential neighborhoods has placed a number of operating constraints on
Naval Air Station Oceana, a major fighter jet base for the U.S. Navy. While the airbase enjoys wide support from Virginia Beach at large, the Pentagon
Base Realignment and Closure commission has proposed closure of Oceana by 2018 but this did not happen. This land crunch led to floodplain development. During
Hurricane Matthew, the heavy rainfall flooded over 2000 homes and left some neighborhoods with standing water for days. Given the rising risks of flooding due to
climate change and the impetus of the hurricane damage, the city rejected several further development proposals. This rejection was significant from two perspectives. First, cities reject building very rarely, demonstrating the shift in public perception. Second, these rejections led to lawsuits by the developers. The rejection of these lawsuits in the courts provides precedent for other sorts of local
climate change adaptation efforts in the future. Discussing the matter, Mayor Dyer noted, "It's a confrontation with reality. Not everybody's going to be happy." On May 31, 2019, a
shooting occurred at a municipal government building in Virginia Beach. A former employee entered the building and shot indiscriminately, killing 12 people and injuring four others before dying from a gunshot wound fired by responding officers. ==Geography==