Virginia Beach:   Where History and Progress Meet!

Over four hundred years ago, the city we know today as Virginia Beach was founded as Princess Anne County by an enterprising group of English settlers.  Under the leadership of Admiral Christopher Newport, about thirty colonists came ashore in April 1607.  One of the earliest residents of Princess Anne County was a young man named Adam Thoroughgood, who left his home in Kings Lynn, England to pursue fortune and adventure in the New World.  The topography of his new surroundings reminded him so much of home that Thoroughgood called the land and surrounding waters, Lynnhaven.  The name still stands today in honor of one of Hampton Roads’ earliest settlers.  Several years later, Thoroughgood built a small but substantial brick home for his family on the shores of Lynnhaven.  The home, known today as the Adam Thoroughgood House,  is fully restored and considered to be the oldest surviving brick home in America!

In 1963, the resort area known as Virginia Beach and Princess Anne County merged to become a large city of approximately 260 square miles. Virginia Beach, due to its incredible size, is broken down into seven smaller “boroughs,” – Bayside, Blackwater, Kempsville, Lynnhaven, Princess Anne, Pungo, and Virginia Beach.

With a current population of over 440,000 people, Virginia Beach has been known for its reputation as a resort area since the late 1880s.  Contrary to popular belief, Virginia Beach has a lot to offer not only to its yearly visitors, but to its current and potential citizens as well. Boasting the 4th highest median income in the United States (2002 US Census Survey), Virginia Beach has a thriving and highly diverse economy – Geico, Stihl, Lillian Vernon (just to name a few national corporations!) and the U.S. Navy’s largest air base, Oceana,  all call Virginia Beach home. 

In addition to the wide-ranging aspects of its local economy, Virginia Beach has an excellent public school system – in fact, many of the Beach schools offer specialty programs based in science, technology, health sciences, and the arts to prepare students for post-secondary education or immediate employment.  Virginia Beach also has two first-class institutions of higher learning – Tidewater Community College and Regent University . TCC’s main campus is a sprawling, modern campus in the heart of the city.  Continually evolving and adapting to its students’ educational and professional needs, TCC prepares its student body for successful transition to four-year schools and also for upward mobility in their professional lives. Virginia Beach is also home to Regent University, founded in 1978.  With its focus primarily on graduate programs taught from a Judeo-Christian perspective, Regent offers its students programs in law, psychology, business, divinity, education – along with many others!  Regent continues to grow and capture national attention for its challenging, faith-based curriculums.

In spite of, or perhaps because of, its well-known reputation as a resort destination, Virginia Beach has so much recreation to offer both visitors and residents!  It would be impossible for brevity’s sake to list all the attractions and beautiful sites in Virginia Beach, so the following are only a few of the highlights. 

With almost 30 miles of pristine beaches, much of the city’s recreation is water-based! From a swim in the Atlantic, renting a bicycle to cruise down the beautifully restored Boardwalk and plenty of excellent shopping and dining, the “Strip” (as locals call it) has plenty to offer!  In fact, every year Virginia Beach is the sponsor of the East Coast Surfing Championships  – an event that draws world-class surfers and spectators alike! ECSC is North America's Oldest Running Surfing Competition and the second oldest continuously-run surfing contest in the world. 

The Boardwalk Art Show & Festival, which celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2005, highlights the creative works of artists along the East Coast. Whether you’re interested in purchasing a fine piece of art or simply want to admire the exhibits, the Boardwalk Art Show has something to offer everyone. For those with a love of marine fishing, Virginia Beach hosts a variety of fishing tournaments throughout the season. The annual Neptune Festival is an event that honors our city’s nautical heritage and is considered to be the grand finale of the summer season. King Neptune and his royal court preside over this event, considered to be the largest festival in the state of Virginia!

 In addition to the resort-style attractions, however, Virginia Beach has an incredible, newly-expanded marine science museum. The Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center  (formerly the VA Marine Science Museum), is home to a huge variety of marine life.  One of the top ten most visited aquariums in the nation, the Aquarium is a wonderful source of education and fun for families!  The Aquarium sponsors boat tours throughout the year – in the winter months, you can venture out into the Atlantic through Rudy Inlet in hopes to catch sight of a whale!  During the warmer seasons, visitors can go on a variety of ocean excursions, including bottlenose dolphin watching, ocean collections and salt marsh boating trips!

The city is also home to the Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge .  Containing over 7,700 acres, the Refuge was established in 1938 to protect local waterfowl and other wetland species.  The Refuge is home to over 10,000 snow geese and a large variety of ducks during December and January. In addition to providing a safe haven for birds, Back Bay is the permanent home of a wide variety of plant and animal life.  Back Bay and the Aquarium are just two famous examples of Virginia Beach’s commitment to preserve this coastal city’s bounty of wildlife and to educate future generations to come.

Sandbridge, in the southeastern portion of Virginia Beach, is a lovely place to enjoy the ocean and relax.  With five miles of unfettered beach access, Sandbridge has a pace and energy all its own.  Due to its close proximity to Back Bay, Sandbridge is also home to a magnificent group of wild horses, said to be direct descendents of the Spanish Mustangs!  These horses have roamed the Outer Banks of Virginia and North Carolina for over 400 years and are deeply valued for their beauty and vulnerability.

Although known for its stretches of beautiful beaches, Virginia Beach also has miles and miles of beautiful farmland. We call this area Pungo, and the 'Pungo Strawberry Festival' is held annually every Memorial Day weekend. The highlight of this festival is all the strawberries you can eat - prepared in over 50 different ways!  In addition, the festival offers activities for all ages including a pie-eating contest, several racing car exhibits, one of the largest carnivals on the east coast, continuous entertainment on 4 stages, a parade, and much more!

For history buffs, Virginia Beach has a wealth of famous sites and beautiful homes that represent its storied past. Among these wonderful links to Virginia Beach’s history is the Cavalier Hotel , fondly called the “Queen of the Beach.” The Cavalier opened its doors to guests in 1927, has hosted seven U.S. Presidents, and was temporarily transformed into a Naval training base during WWII.  The Cape Henry Lighthouse , located close to the site of the first landing of English settlers in seventeenth century, was completed and lit for the first time in 1792.  The First Landing Cross is a national landmark erected in 1935 to commemorate the landing of the first permanent English settlers (13 years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock!).  The original cross, set up on the Cape Henry shore, was placed there in gratitude to God (for safe voyages) and to affirm England’s claim to the land. 

For those people interested in recreation not so water-based, Virginia Beach has its own United Soccer League team, the Virginia Beach Mariners , who regularly play at the VB Sportsplex.  The Mariner’s are a first division team whose regular season runs from April through September.  The Sportsplex, built in 1998, can seat up to 10,000 people and sits on approximately 1200 acres.  The venue is an exciting place to watch our very own soccer team as they prove again and again why they’re at the top of their league!

If it’s live music you want, Virginia Beach is home to a huge variety of local restaurants that feature local entertainment on a nightly basis.  If it’s a larger venue that you’re seeking, the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater is the place to be to catch acts such as Dave Matthews, Aerosmith, Coldplay, John Mellencamp and many more! The Amphitheater is a venue that seats up to 20,000 people with both theatre-style seating and a lawn seating area.  No matter where you sit, though, you’re guaranteed great views and wonderful sound with their state-of-the-art sound system.

As you can tell, Virginia Beach has so much to offer – too much to put down on these pages. So why don’t you visit and find out for yourself why almost half a million people choose to call this place home?