Culture in Virginia Beach
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Virginia Beach, Virginia Virginia Beach is an independent city located on the southeastern coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 459,470 at the 2020 census. Although mostly suburban in character, it is the most populous city ...
is a city that has become a popular tourist destination in recent years on account of its historical, scientific, and performing arts.


Overview

The Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center (formerly the Virginia Marine Science Museum) is a popular aquarium near the oceanfront that features the 300,000-gallon Norfolk Canyon Aquarium, containing sand tiger, nurse and brown
shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimo ...
s, as well as
sting ray Stingrays are a group of sea rays, which are cartilaginous fish related to sharks. They are classified in the suborder Myliobatoidei of the order Myliobatiformes and consist of eight families: Hexatrygonidae (sixgill stingray), Plesiobatidae ( ...
s and other large open-ocean dwellers. There is also a 70,000-gallon
sea turtle Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhead, ...
aquarium, sea turtle hatchling laboratory, hands-on ocean exploration exhibits, jellyfish and octopus aquariums, and even a life-size model of a humpback whale. Other features include the Owls Creek salt marsh and a nature trail. (www.VirginiaAquarium.com) The Farm Bureau Live (former The Verizon Wireless Amphitheater) features a wide variety of popular shows and concerts, ranging from Kenny Chesney to
Gretchen Wilson Gretchen Frances Wilson (born June 26, 1973) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She made her debut in March 2004 with the Grammy Awards, Grammy Award-winning single "Redneck Woman", a number-one hit on the ''Billboard (magazine) ...
to Coldplay to Ozzfest. The Sandler Center, a 1200-seat performing arts theatre, opened in the Virginia Beach Town Center in November 2007. Virginia Beach is home to many sites of historical importance, and has 18 sites on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
. Such sites include the
Adam Thoroughgood House The Thoroughgood House is a brick house located at 1636 Parish Road, in the neighborhood of Thoroughgood, in Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States. It was built ca. 1719. It was formerly known as the Adam Thoroughgood House. It was not built by ...
(one of the oldest surviving colonial homes in Virginia), the
Francis Land House The Francis Land House, or Rose Hall, is a historic brick house in located within the Rose Hall District near Princess Anne Plaza in Virginia Beach, Virginia. It was the plantation home of the prominent Land family, a founding family of Princess ...
(a 200-year-old plantation), the Cape Henry Lights and nearby Cape Henry Light Station (a second tower), Bayville Farm, DeWitt Cottage, Ferry Farm Plantation, Dr. John Miller-Masury House,
Adam Keeling House __NOTOC__ The Adam Keeling House is a historic house in Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States. Dendrochronology undertaken by the Oxford Tree-Ring Laboratory revealed that house was constructed of timbers felled in 1734–1735, pointing to a ...
, Old Donation Church, Pembroke Manor,
Pleasant Hall Pleasant Hall is a historic home located in Kempsville section of Virginia Beach, Virginia. Built in 1769, it is a two-story, five-bay, double pile Georgian style brick dwelling. It is topped by a shallow gable roof and has two wide interior-e ...
, Shirley Hall (Devereaux House), Thomas Murray House, U.S. Coast Guard Station (Seatack), Upper Wolfsnare (Brick House Farm), Weblin House, and Wishart Boush House and Wolfsnare. The history of one house represented a concise story of Lower Norfolk County's past. In 1649 the English couple William and Susannah Moseley migrated with their family to Lower Norfolk County from Rotterdam, the Netherlands, where he had been a steward of the English Court as a member of the Merchant Adventurers Company of London. They were a mature couple in their 40s and came with wealth to set up trade. On the Eastern Branch Elizabeth River, they built a mansion with Dutch-style gambrel roof, reflecting their years of residency and trade in Rotterdam. The house was first known as Greenwich. In the 18th century it was called Rolleston Hall, and was probably added to. The brick mansion stood for more than 200 years and burned down in the late 19th century. William Moseley was a commissioner of Lower Norfolk County from 1649 to his death in 1655. His son Arthur Moseley was elected to the House of Burgesses. Moseley descendants were active in Virginia and numerous other Southern states' political affairs. Before the Civil War, the mansion had passed out of the Moseley family and was owned by former governor Harold A. Wise of Virginia. He and his family left the house in 1861 during the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
to seek refuge elsewhere. He became a Brigadier General for the Confederate Army. After the war, Wise attempted to reclaim the house while a prisoner on parole, but was refused by the Union command as he had taken up residence elsewhere in 1861. By the end of the Civil War, the Freedmen's Bureau had taken over the mansion and operated it as a school for 200
freedmen A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), abolitionism, emancipation (gra ...
. The
Edgar Cayce Edgar Cayce (; 18 March 1877 – 3 January 1945) was an American clairvoyant who claimed to channel his higher self while in a trance-like state. His words were recorded by his friend, Al Layne; his wife, Gertrude Evans, and later by his s ...
Hospital for Research and Enlightenment was established in Virginia Beach in 1928 with 60 beds. Cayce was a psychic from Kentucky who claimed healing abilities and made prophesies. Cayce resided in Virginia Beach until he died on January 3, 1945. His followers are still active in Virginia Beach. Atlantic University was opened by Cayce in 1930; it closed two years later but was re-opened in 1985. Atlantic University was originally intended for study of Cayce's readings and research on spiritual subjects.


Films

Several films have been made in or near the city: '' Deep Impact'' (1998), '' The Dark Angel: Psycho Kickboxer'' (1997), '' Hearts in Atlantis'' (2001), ''
Judges A judge is an official who presides over a court. Judge or Judges may also refer to: Roles *Judge, an alternative name for an adjudicator in a competition in theatre, music, sport, etc. *Judge, an alternative name/aviator call sign for a membe ...
'' (2005), '' The Killing Kind'' (2004), ''Moving'' (2002), '' Navy SEALs'' (1990), '' The Satan Killer'' (1993) and ''Too Young the Hero'' (1988; TV film). '' Mission: Impossible III'' (2006) was filmed at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, which is connected to Virginia Beach.


Parks and outdoor recreation

Virginia Beach is home to 208 city parks, encompassing over 4,000 acres (16 km²), including neighborhood parks, community parks, district parks, and other open spaces. Each park is unique and offers something for everyone, from wide open spaces to playgrounds, picnic shelters, and ballfields. Perhaps one of the most well-known parks is the Mount Trashmore Park, clearly visible from I-264. The park is 165 acres (668,000 m²). The mountain is 60 ft (18 m) high and over 800 ft (240 m) long, and was created by compacting layers of solid waste and clean soil. The park also features two lakes: Lake Windsor and Lake Trashmore. Lake Trashmore is stocked and may be fished. Another major park in the city is Great Neck Park, a 70-acre (283,000 m²) park located in the Lynnhaven District. Facilities include five large group shelters, mini-shelters, family picnic tables and grills, three playgrounds, horseshoe pits, volleyball courts, vending machines, walking trails, four baseball fields, as well as a gazebo located at the end of a scenic walkway overlooking the Lynnhaven River. The
Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge in southeastern Virginia is located in the independent city of Virginia Beach. Established in 1938 in an isolated portion of the former Princess Anne County, it is managed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. ...
, established in 1938, is an 8,000-acre (32 km²) fresh water refuge that borders the Atlantic Ocean on the east and Back Bay on the west. The barrier islands feature large sand dunes, maritime forests, fresh water marshes, ponds, ocean beach, and large impoundments for wintering wildfowl. It is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
First Landing State Park First Landing State Park (formerly Seashore State Park) offers recreational opportunities at Cape Henry in the independent city of Virginia Beach, Virginia. As the first planned state park of Virginia, First Landing is listed on the National Re ...
and
False Cape State Park False Cape State Park is a state park located on the Currituck Banks Peninsula, a barrier spit between the Back Bay of the Currituck Sound and the Atlantic Ocean, within the city of Virginia Beach, adjacent to the state border with North Carol ...
are both located in coastal areas within the city's corporate limits as well. Munden Point is a park located in the deep southern end of the city, which is known for being
rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...
. Additionally, the famous three-mile (5 km) boardwalk at the oceanfront is often packed with entertainment, outdoor cafes, concerts and people. The Neptune Festival is an outdoor festival held annually in September on the boardwalk. The Naval Aviation Monument Park was formally dedicated on May 6, 2006, by the Hampton Roads Squadron of the Naval Aviation Foundation Association. Planned since 1997 in partnership with the City of Virginia Beach, the park features heroic-scale statuary and reliefs to tell the history of Naval Aviation.Naval Aviation Monument Park. Alexandria, Virginia.: Naval Aviation Foundation, ''Wings of Gold'', quarterly, Summer-Fall, 2006, page 58.


Points of interest

*
Adam Keeling House __NOTOC__ The Adam Keeling House is a historic house in Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States. Dendrochronology undertaken by the Oxford Tree-Ring Laboratory revealed that house was constructed of timbers felled in 1734–1735, pointing to a ...
*
Adam Thoroughgood House The Thoroughgood House is a brick house located at 1636 Parish Road, in the neighborhood of Thoroughgood, in Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States. It was built ca. 1719. It was formerly known as the Adam Thoroughgood House. It was not built by ...
*
Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge in southeastern Virginia is located in the independent city of Virginia Beach. Established in 1938 in an isolated portion of the former Princess Anne County, it is managed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. ...
*
Cape Henry Cape Henry is a cape on the Atlantic shore of Virginia located in the northeast corner of Virginia Beach. It is the southern boundary of the entrance to the long estuary of the Chesapeake Bay. Across the mouth of the bay to the north is Cape Cha ...
* Cape Henry Light *
Cape Henry Memorial The Cape Henry Memorial commemorates the first landfall at Cape Henry, in Virginia Beach, Virginia, of colonists bound for the Jamestown settlement. After landing on April 26, 1607, they explored the area, named the cape, and set up a cross before ...
*
False Cape State Park False Cape State Park is a state park located on the Currituck Banks Peninsula, a barrier spit between the Back Bay of the Currituck Sound and the Atlantic Ocean, within the city of Virginia Beach, adjacent to the state border with North Carol ...
*
First Landing State Park First Landing State Park (formerly Seashore State Park) offers recreational opportunities at Cape Henry in the independent city of Virginia Beach, Virginia. As the first planned state park of Virginia, First Landing is listed on the National Re ...
* Fleet Combat Training Center Atlantic * Joint Expeditionary Base East *
Francis Land House The Francis Land House, or Rose Hall, is a historic brick house in located within the Rose Hall District near Princess Anne Plaza in Virginia Beach, Virginia. It was the plantation home of the prominent Land family, a founding family of Princess ...
*
Henry Town Henry Town, Henry Towne, or Henries Towne was an early English colonial settlement near Cape Henry, the southern point and gateway to the Chesapeake Bay in the Colony and Dominion of Virginia, now in modern Virginia Beach, Virginia, on the East Co ...
recreation * Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base *
Lynnhaven Mall Lynnhaven Mall is an enclosed super-regional shopping mall in Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA. It opened in August 1981. At of gross leasable area, it is the largest mall in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of southeastern Virginia and one of the ...
* Lynnhaven House * Military Aviation Museum * Mount Trashmore Park * Naval Air Station Oceana * Norwegian Lady Statue * Ocean Breeze Waterpark * Virginia Beach Surf & Rescue Museum (Seatack) *
Pembroke Mall Pembroke Mall was an enclosed shopping mall located in Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States. It was opened in March 1966 as the first shopping mall in the Hampton Roads metro area. It comprised more than 48 stores, including anchor stores Target ...
* Princess Anne Athletic Complex * Tidewater Arboretum *
Virginia Beach Convention Center The Virginia Beach Convention Center is a large convention center located in Virginia Beach, Virginia. It opened in 2005, and is the largest building in the city of Virginia Beach by its total site area. It has over 150,012 square feet of exhibi ...
*
Virginia Beach Town Center Virginia Beach Town Center is a group of offices, hotels, stores, and restaurants in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Virginia Beach, Virginia. Location The Virginia Beach Town Center is located in the Central Business District of Virginia Beach acro ...
* Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amphitheater *
Virginia Aquarium The Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center, formerly known as the Virginia Marine Science Museum, is an aquarium and marine science museum located in Virginia Beach, Virginia, just south of Rudee Inlet. The exhibits at the museum are contain ...
* Virginia Beach Oceanfront * Virginia Beach Sportsplex


Sports

Virginia Beach has no major league professional sports teams or spectator sports. Since
Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
contains the central business district of
Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's ...
, most of the major spectator sports are located there. While the Hampton Roads area has been recently considered as a viable prospect for major-league professional sports, and regional leaders have attempted to obtain
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
,
NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
and
NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
franchises in the recent past, no team has yet relocated to the area. It is considered (after Las Vegas) the largest metropolitan area in the country without a major professional sports team, being larger than a number of other metropolitan areas who currently host professional teams in the 4 major sports. There are two
soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
teams, the
Hampton Roads Piranhas Hampton Roads Piranhas was an American women's soccer team, founded in 1995. The team was a member of the United Soccer Leagues W-League, the second tier of women's soccer in the United States and Canada. The team played in the Atlantic Divisio ...
, a men's team in the
USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...
, and a women's team by the same name in the W-League, the ''de facto'' top women's league after the suspension of the
Women's United Soccer Association The Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) was the world's first Women's association football, women's soccer league in which all the players were paid as professionals. Founded in February 2000 in sports, 2000, the league began its first se ...
. The Piranhas play at the main stadium of the Virginia Beach Sportsplex, which also contains the central training site for the U.S. women's national
field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...
team. The city is also home to the
East Coast Surfing Championships The East Coast Surfing Championships (ECSC) is an annual surfing contest held in Virginia Beach, Virginia on the oceanfront, and is one of the United States Surfing Federation’s major amateur events. The ECSC stretches over a four-day period ever ...
, an annual contest of more than 100 of the world's top professional surfers and an estimated 400 amateur surfers. This is North America's oldest surfing contest, and features combined cash prizes of $55,000. There are also eleven golf courses open to the public in the city, as well as four country club layouts and 36 military holes at NAS Oceana's Aeropines course. Among the best-known public courses are Hell's Point Golf Club and Virginia Beach National, the latter of which hosts the Virginia Beach Open, a
Nationwide Tour The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental golf tour, tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at tha ...
event, each April. There are some great gyms in Virginia Beach for those that are competitive gymnasts. Ocean Tumblers and Excalibur are two of the gyms that host competitions throughout the year. The North American Sand Soccer Championship is held once a year at the beach. The tournament includes the Pro/Am competition, which brings teams from all over the world to compete in the tournament. Virginia Beach was the host of a Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon each year on Labor Day weekend in conjunction with the American Music Festival from 2001 to 2021. It was one of the largest Half Marathons in the world. The final were on the Virginia Beach boardwalk.


Media

Virginia Beach's daily newspaper is the '' Virginian-Pilot''. Other papers include the ''
Port Folio Weekly ''Port Folio Weekly'' was a publication - first print, then online - serving the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. First published in 1983, the publication was owned by Landmark Communications. For 26 years, ''Port Folio Weekly'' served as the re ...
'', the ''
New Journal and Guide The ''New Journal and Guide'' is a regional weekly newspaper based in Norfolk, Virginia, and serving the Hampton Roads area. The weekly focuses on local and national African-American news, sports, and issues and has been in circulation since 19 ...
'', and the ''
Hampton Roads Business Journal ''Inside Business'' is a weekly newspaper serving Norfolk, Virginia and the Hampton Roads area. Its articles focus on the regional business community. ''Inside Business'' was formerly known as the ''Hampton Roads Business Journal'', and is publish ...
''.
Virginia Wesleyan College Virginia Wesleyan University (VWU) is a private university in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The university is nonsectarian but historically affiliated with The United Methodist Church. It enrolls 1,607 students annually in undergraduate and graduate ...
publishes its own newspaper, ''Marlin Chronicles''. ''Hampton Roads Magazine'' serves as a bi-monthly regional magazine for Virginia Beach and the
Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's ...
area. ''Hampton Roads Times'' serves as an online magazine for all the Hampton Roads cities and counties. Virginia Beach is served by a variety of radio stations on the AM and FM dials, with towers located around the
Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's ...
area. Virginia Beach is also served by several television stations. Major network television affiliates include: Virginia Beach residents also can receive independent stations, such as WSKY broadcasting on channel 4 from the Outer Banks of North Carolina and
WGBS-LD WGBS-LD, virtual channel 7 ( VHF digital channel 12), is a low-powered Retro TV- affiliated television station licensed to Carrollton, Virginia, United States and serving the Greater Hampton Roads area. The station is owned by Joan Wright. Di ...
broadcasting on channel 11 from Hampton. Virginia Beach is served by Cox Cable which provides LNC 5, a local 24-hour cable news television network and Verizon FiOS.
DirecTV DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. It ...
and
Dish Network DISH Network Corporation (DISH, an acronym for DIgital Sky Highway) is an American television provider and the owner of the direct-broadcast satellite provider Dish, commonly known as Dish Network, and the over-the-top IPTV service, Sling TV. A ...
are also popular as an alternative to
cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broa ...
in Virginia Beach.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Culture In Virginia Beach Culture of Virginia Beach, Virginia Tourist attractions in Virginia Beach, Virginia