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County of Princess Anne is a former county in the British Colony of Virginia and the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States, first incorporated in 1691. The county was merged into the city of Virginia Beach [1] on January 1, 1963, ceasing to exist.
Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
---|---|---|---|
1790 | 7,793 | — | |
1800 | 8,859 | 13.7% | |
1810 | 9,498 | 7.2% | |
1820 | 8,768 | −7.7% | |
1830 | 9,102 | 3.8% | |
1840 | 7,285 | −20.0% | |
1850 | 7,669 | 5.3% | |
1860 | 7,714 | 0.6% | |
1870 | 8,273 | 7.2% | |
1880 | 9,394 | 13.6% | |
1890 | 9,510 | 1.2% | |
1900 | 11,192 | 17.7% | |
1910 | 11,526 | 3.0% | |
1920 | 13,626 | 18.2% | |
1930 | 16,282 | 19.5% | |
1940 | 19,984 | 22.7% | |
1950 | 42,277 | 111.6% | |
1960 | 77,127 | 82.4% | |
1790-1960 Population as Princess Anne County |
When Admiral Christopher Newport and the colonists of the Virginia Company arrived in 1607, George Percy and his fellow Englishmen's "first landing" was at Cape Henry in what was to become Princess Anne County. They named the spot in honor of Henry Frederick Stuart, the elder of two surviving sons of King James I of England. A few days later, they travelled up the James River and established Jamestown. During the early 17th century, English settlers explored and began settling the areas adjacent to Hampton Roads. By 1610, the English colonists had established a permanent settlement in the Kecoughtan area of what was to become Elizabeth Cittie (sic) in 1619. Today a part of Hampton, it is the oldest known continuously occupied English settlement in North America.
Adam Thoroughgood was an early leader in the area which became Princess Anne County, settling along the Lynnhaven River. In 1634, the King of England directed the formation of eight shires (or counties) in the colony of Virginia. One of these was Elizabeth City Shire, which included land area on both sides of Hampton Roads.
New Norfolk County was formed in 1636 from Elizabeth City Shire. New Norfolk County included all the area in South Hampton Roads. Only a year later, New Norfolk was split roughly in half into Upper Norfolk County (most of which is now the present-day city of Suffolk) and Lower Norfolk County. In 1691, Lower Norfolk was split roughly in half. The western half became Norfolk County, while the eastern half became Princess Anne County. The latter was named for Anne Stuart prior to her accession to the throne in 1702.
The County of Princess Anne, Virginia was governed by a Board of Supervisors. Each Supervisor represented one of six Magisterial Districts.
After the American colonies declared their independence in 1776, Loyalist opposition in various forms with different motives was present for the duration of the war. In Princess Anne and Norfolk Counties, organized criminals took advantage of the sudden power vacuum created in part by the ineffectiveness of the newly formed local authorities. [2] Josiah Philips, a native of Princess Anne County, led one such group. His group used intimidation, the county's rough, swampy terrain, and disaffected local sympathizers to rob, kill, and terrorize the area for several years. [3] After Philips' capture and subsequent escape, a writ of attainder, perhaps drafted by Thomas Jefferson, was passed by the Virginia General Assembly naming Philips and his followers in an effort to end what it described as an "insurrection" in the counties. Philips was tried and executed in June 1778. [4]
Beginning in the late 19th century, the small resort area of Virginia Beach along the Atlantic Ocean at the north eastern portion of the county's vast expanse of shoreline grew, particularly after 1888 with the arrival of rail service and electricity. It was incorporated as a town in 1906 and became an independent city on January 1, 1963, but Princess Anne (Courthouse) remained the county seat.
However, in the mid 20th century, the western borders of Princess Anne County lost territory to annexation suits by Norfolk, Virginia which adjoined it after annexing all of the northern portion of Norfolk County. A merger with the tiny city of Virginia Beach became seen as a way to prevent the independent City of Norfolk from annexing more (or potentially all) of Princess Anne County.
The original western border of Princess Anne County started in East Beach (present day Norfolk, Virginia) where 1st Bay Street meets the Chesapeake Bay. The county line traveled south down the inlet to Bi-County Road and continued between Moose Avenue and Buffalo Avenue, across East Little Creek Road, between the trailer park and Higby Street to meet North Military Highway. Follow North Military Highway south to Azalea Garden Road and Miller Store Road intersect. Travel southeast on Miller Store Road, to the end of Pritchard Street and follow the river under Interstate 64, to Cornick Road. From here simply follow the Broad Creek south.
Year | Republican | Democratic | Third party(ies) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
1960 | 4,844 | 44.67% | 5,954 | 54.91% | 45 | 0.42% |
1956 | 4,675 | 50.52% | 4,342 | 46.93% | 236 | 2.55% |
1952 | 3,180 | 51.04% | 3,037 | 48.75% | 13 | 0.21% |
1948 | 1,329 | 35.77% | 2,008 | 54.05% | 378 | 10.17% |
1944 | 993 | 33.63% | 1,959 | 66.34% | 1 | 0.03% |
1940 | 445 | 20.82% | 1,689 | 79.04% | 3 | 0.14% |
1936 | 436 | 18.41% | 1,925 | 81.29% | 7 | 0.30% |
1932 | 432 | 22.71% | 1,451 | 76.29% | 19 | 1.00% |
1928 | 1,040 | 55.29% | 841 | 44.71% | 0 | 0.00% |
1924 | 137 | 15.97% | 690 | 80.42% | 31 | 3.61% |
1920 | 105 | 14.64% | 610 | 85.08% | 2 | 0.28% |
1916 | 67 | 11.49% | 515 | 88.34% | 1 | 0.17% |
1912 | 40 | 7.62% | 422 | 80.38% | 63 | 12.00% |
1908 | 99 | 19.30% | 403 | 78.56% | 11 | 2.14% |
1904 | 109 | 20.53% | 420 | 79.10% | 2 | 0.38% |
1900 | 327 | 30.50% | 743 | 69.31% | 2 | 0.19% |
1896 | 687 | 46.26% | 790 | 53.20% | 8 | 0.54% |
1892 | 409 | 37.73% | 623 | 57.47% | 52 | 4.80% |
1888 | 1,004 | 54.15% | 844 | 45.52% | 6 | 0.32% |
1884 | 971 | 49.62% | 986 | 50.38% | 0 | 0.00% |
1880 | 604 | 40.29% | 895 | 59.71% | 0 | 0.00% |
In 1963, after a successful referendum in both Virginia Beach and Princess Anne County, and with the approval of the Virginia General Assembly, Virginia Beach and Princess Anne County merged to form the present-day independent city of Virginia Beach. About the same time, Norfolk County merged with the small independent City of South Norfolk. The independent city that resulted from that merger, Chesapeake, became Virginia Beach's new neighbor to the southwest.
Most of the area formerly in the County of Princess Anne when it was formed in 1691 is now located within the independent City of Virginia Beach. The only exceptions are some territory of the northwestern portion which became part of the City of Norfolk through annexation and a land swap agreement between the two cities in 1988.
Magisterial District of Bayside
Magisterial District of Black Water
Magisterial District of Kempsville
Magisterial District of Lynnhaven
Magisterial District of Pungo
Magisterial District of Seaboard
Virginia Beach, officially the City of Virginia Beach, is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 459,470 at the 2020 census. Located on the southeastern coast of Virginia, it is the fifth-most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic and the 43rd-most populous city in the U.S. Located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, Virginia Beach is a principal city in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area which has more than 1.8 million inhabitants and is the 37th-largest metropolitan area in the U.S.
South Hampton Roads is a region located in the extreme southeastern portion of Virginia's Tidewater region in the United States with a total population of 1,191,937. It is part of the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC MSA, which itself has a population of 1,724,876.
Interstate 264 (I-264) is an Interstate Highway in the US state of Virginia. It serves as the primary east–west highway through the South Hampton Roads region in southeastern Virginia. The route connects the central business districts of Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Norfolk, and Virginia Beach and serves as the most direct link between those cities and the resort beaches along Virginia's Atlantic coast.
Norfolk County was a county of the South Hampton Roads in eastern Virginia in the United States that was created in 1691. After the American Civil War, for a period of about 100 years, portions of Norfolk County were lost and the territory of the county reduced as they were annexed by the independent and growing cities of Norfolk, Portsmouth and South Norfolk.
Lower Norfolk County is a long-extinct county which was organized in colonial Virginia, operating from 1637 until 1691.
Pungo is a rural community located in the southern part of the independent city of Virginia Beach, Virginia and was one of the seven original boroughs when the City of Virginia Beach was created in 1963. The area derives its name from a local Indian tribe, the Machipungo, a branch of the Chesapeake tribe. It was named for a local Indian chief, Machiopungo. Because the community is located in an independent city, there is no individual census for the neighborhood, which was originally part of Princess Anne County until 1963, when the entire county became part of Virginia Beach. Like much of southern Virginia Beach, the area is surrounded by farmland.
Princess Anne is a community located in the independent city of Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States at the junction of Princess Anne Road and North Landing Road near the West Neck River. The community, which dates from 1691, was named after Princess Anne of Denmark and Norway.
Seatack, Virginia is a historic neighborhood and community borough of Virginia Beach, Virginia, that was located in what used to be Princess Anne County, and is now part of the Oceanfront resort strip and adjacent area of the independent city of Virginia Beach. The Seatack community of Virginia Beach includes an area inland from the resort strip along present-day Virginia Beach Boulevard. Seatack Elementary School is located nearby on Birdneck Road. The 1903 Seatack Station of the United States Lifesaving Service is now the Virginia Beach Surf & Rescue Museum at 24th street adjacent to the oceanfront boardwalk.
The Little Creek-Cape Charles Ferry was a passenger ferry service operating across the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay from the 1930s until 1964. Known also as the Princess Anne-Kiptopeke Beach Ferry or Little Creek-Kiptopeke Beach Ferry, the service connected Virginia Beach, Virginia with Cape Charles on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Departures from and arrivals to Cape Charles were matched with times of Pennsylvania Railroad passenger trains such as the Del-Mar-Va Express and the Cavalier that operated the length of the Delmarva Peninsula.
Virginia Beach Boulevard is a major connector highway which carries U.S. Route 58 most of its length and extends from the downtown area of Norfolk to the Oceanfront area of Virginia Beach, passing through the newly developed New Urbanist Town Center development of the latter as it links the two independent cities in the South Hampton Roads subregion of the Hampton Roads region in southeastern Virginia.
Thalia is a residential neighborhood in the northeastern area of the independent city of Virginia Beach in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia.
Adam Thoroughgood [Thorowgood] (1604–1640) was a colonist and community leader in the Virginia Colony who helped settle the Virginia counties of Elizabeth City, Lower Norfolk and Princess Anne, the latter, known today as the independent city of Virginia Beach.
Virginia Beach City Public Schools is the branch of the government of the city of Virginia Beach, Virginia responsible for public K-12 education. Like all public school systems in the state, it is legally classified as a school division instead of a school district. Although Virginia school divisions perform the functions of school districts in other U.S. states, they have no taxing authority, instead relying on appropriations from their local governments.
State Route 165 is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. The state highway runs 39.75 miles (63.97 km) from U.S. Route 17 Business in Chesapeake north to SR 337 in Norfolk. SR 165 is a C-shaped route that connects Chesapeake and Norfolk in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area indirectly via Virginia Beach. The highway's east–west segment connects the Chesapeake communities of Deep Creek and Great Bridge with the Princess Anne part of Virginia Beach. SR 165's northwest–southeast portion connects the Princess Anne area with Virginia Beach's Salem and Kempsville communities and with Norfolk. Within Norfolk, the state highway parallels Interstate 64 (I-64) while passing through the eastern and northern areas of the city near Norfolk International Airport and Naval Station Norfolk. Much of SR 165 is a multi-lane divided highway, but there are significant two-lane stretches in all three of the independent cities the highway serves.
The history of Virginia Beach, Virginia, goes back to the Native Americans who lived in the area for thousands of years before the English colonists landed at Cape Henry in April 1607 and established their first permanent settlement at Jamestown a few weeks later. The Colonial Virginia period extended until 1776 and the American Revolution, and the area has been part of the Commonwealth of Virginia ever since.
Kempsville is a borough in the City of Virginia Beach, Virginia, a historic section with origins in US colonial times located in the former Princess Anne County. In modern times, it is a community within the urbanized portion of the independent city of Virginia Beach, the largest city in Virginia.
Virginia Beach Public Library (VBPL), located in Virginia Beach, Virginia is a comprehensive library system serving Virginia Beach, an independent city with a population of 450,000 in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. The library supports the educational and leisure needs of citizens with a system of area libraries, a bookmobile, a virtual library, the Wahab Public Law Library, the Municipal Reference Library, and the Library and Resource Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired (DBVI). The collection contains more than 1 million print and non-print items.
Virginia Beach, Virginia is a city that has become a popular tourist destination in recent years on account of its historical, scientific, and performing arts.
Grace White Sherwood (1660–1740), called the Witch of Pungo, is the last person known to have been convicted of witchcraft in Virginia.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA.