Holland, Virginia was an

incorporated town An incorporated town is a town that is a municipal corporation. Canada Incorporated towns are a form of local government in Canada, which is a responsibility of provincial rather than federal government. United Kingdom United States An in ...

in the southwestern section of Nansemond County, Virginia. Since 1974, it has been a community in the

independent city An independent city or independent town is a city or town that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity (such as a province). Historical precursors In the Holy Roman Empire, and to a degree in its successor states ...

of Suffolk, Virginia following a political consolidation which formed Virginia's largest city in geographic area.

History

Holland was named for an English family headed by Capt. John Holland, who arrived in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

in 1630. A record given in Hotten's List of Persons of Quality, 1600–1700, states John Holland and wife as being sought in Massachusetts in 1627 for taking part in tax protests against the Crowns wishes under

Theophilus Clinton, 4th Earl of Lincoln Theophilus Clinton, 4th Earl of Lincoln, KB (1599 – 21 May 1667), styled Lord Clinton until 1619, was an opponent of Charles I during and preceding the English Civil War. Family The eldest son of the 3rd Earl of Lincoln and Elizabeth Knyve ...

. Holland followed

Thomas Dudley Thomas Dudley (12 October 157631 July 1653) was a New England colonial magistrate who served several terms as governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Dudley was the chief founder of Newtowne, later Cambridge, Massachusetts, and built the tow ...

as Steward for the Earl, later Governor of Massachusetts. As a ship's captain, he traveled from Nantucket Point to

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

and out to the English-held islands of the Caribbean. He died at sea (1652) but is actually buried at

Cape Charles, Virginia Cape Charles is a town / municipal corporation in Northampton County, Virginia, United States. The population was 1,009 as of the 2010 Census. History Cape Charles, located close to the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, on Virginia's Eastern Shore, ...

. His son, John Jr.(mentioned in the Suffolk County Massachusetts wills of 1651, as heir to John Holland seniors' island known as 'Munings Moore'(? migrated to Jamestown around 1645 and was a Major in the Virginia militia in 1654 in Westmoreland County and a member of the

Virginia House of Burgesses The House of Burgesses was the elected representative element of the Virginia General Assembly, the legislative body of the Colony of Virginia. With the creation of the House of Burgesses in 1642, the General Assembly, which had been established ...

during the 1654/1655 session. He moved the family to

Nansemond County Nansemond is an extinct jurisdiction that was located south of the James River in Virginia Colony and in the Commonwealth of Virginia (after statehood) in the United States, from 1646 until 1974. It was known as Nansemond County until 1972. From ...

. James Holland, grandson of the original land grant holder for the area that later became Holland, Virginia, was still living in Nansemond County in 1680. He is buried somewhere on the grounds of

Fighting Cock Plantation Combat (French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is sometimes resorted to as a method of self-defense, or ...

in Chuckatuck. Holland is located in what used to be called Old Nansemond County. In 1860, the Holland City Commission was made up of 12 members, 10 of whom were named Holland. Holland became a stop on the

Atlantic and Danville Railway The Atlantic and Danville Railway was a Class I railroad which operated in Virginia and North Carolina. The company was founded in 1882 and opened its mainline between Portsmouth, Virginia and Danville, Virginia in 1890. The Southern Railway lea ...

in 1890. On May 21, 1928, the first Ruritan Club in the United States was founded in Holland, Virginia.

Consolidation into Suffolk

As part of a wave of consolidations in southeastern Virginia during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, in 1972 Holland merged with Nansemond County and that county's other incorporated town, Whaleyville, to form the independent city of Nansemond. Only two years later, Nansemond merged with the former

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

of Nansemond County, Suffolk, to form the present-day city of Suffolk.

References

Suffolk, Virginia communities Former municipalities in Virginia Populated places disestablished in 1974 {{SuffolkVA-geo-stub