First Landing State Park (formerly Seashore State Park) offers recreational opportunities at Cape Henry in the independent city of

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 ...

. As the first planned state park of Virginia, First Landing is listed 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 ...

as Seashore State Park Historic District. A portion of the park is listed as a

National Natural Landmark The National Natural Landmarks (NNL) Program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the natural history of the United States. It is the only national natural areas program that identifies and recognizes the best ...

as part of the Seashore Natural Area. The state park is near the site of the first landing on April 26, 1607 of Christopher Newport and the

Virginia Company The Virginia Company was an English trading company chartered by King James I on 10 April 1606 with the object of colonizing the eastern coast of America. The coast was named Virginia, after Elizabeth I, and it stretched from present-day Mai ...

colonists before establishing themselves at Jamestown. The park includes cabins, areas for camping, fishing, and swimming, a public beach, and over of trails for hiking and biking. Virginia's most popular state park, it's visited by over a million people each year. Its main entrance is located on Shore Drive across from the beach camping entrance. First Landing State Park charges a fee for its camping facilities and for the overnight use of its cabins. Originally built by the

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part of ...

in the 1930s, First Landing State Park is located on the

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the Eastern Shore of Maryland / ...

. The park, which is Virginia's most visited state park, is nestled in Virginia Beach. First Landing offers boating, swimming, nature and history programs, hiking, biking, picnicking, a boat launch, cabins and of trails on . It also has campsites that have water and electric hook-ups and nearby access to restrooms and showers. The park's name was changed in 1997 from Seashore State Park to First Landing State Park to reflect its heritage as the first place where members of the Virginia Company landed (though its former name is still commonly used by Tidewater locals).

History

Development of the Seashore State Park began in 1933 by the

on of donated land. Most of the workers were

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

men. The new park opened on June 15, 1936. Several additions of land and adjustments of the border with

Joint Expeditionary Base East Joint Expeditionary Base-Fort Story, commonly called simply Fort Story is a sub-installation of Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek–Fort Story, which is operated by the United States Navy. Located in the independent city of Virginia Beach, Vi ...

resulted in the current total area of the park of . The Seashore Natural Area, a portion of which is located within the park, was listed as a

in 1965. The designation recognized the significance of the park's forested dunes and semitropical vegetation. In 1997, the park's name was changed from Seashore State Park to First Landing State Park to reflect its heritage as the first place where members of the

landed.

A cross was erected in the state park by the Daughters of the American Colonists on April 26, 1935 to mark the location of the first landing by English colonists at the site, along with a placard at the base of the cross with the dates of the landing and the settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. Like all Virginia State Parks following Reconstruction and through the first half of the 1900's, First Landing State Park implemented Jim Crow laws with segregated and unequal facilities for white and black visitors. In 1955, following the Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court decision, the governing authorities of First Landing State park chose to close the park rather than integrate, reopening and integrated in 1965 following the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

Historic district

The Seashore State Park Historic District is a historic district (comprising the entire park) with significance dating to 1933 for its architecture/engineering. It includes work by CEGG Assoc. LC, the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

, and others. It includes eight contributing buildings, six

contributing sites In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

and 10 contributing structures. The park was the first planned state park of the Virginia State Park system. Its plan was designed and developed with extensive consultation of the National Park Service, which provided architectural drawings and plans, and which educated about traffic circulation and other aspects of already-designed U.S. national parks. The work of actually building roads and buildings and other structures and features of the park was accomplished by

workers, who were housed in three camps of 200 men each. an
accompanying four photos
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References

External links

Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation: First Landing State Park
{{authority control Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia First Landing National Natural Landmarks in Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Beach, Virginia Parks in Virginia Beach, Virginia Civilian Conservation Corps in Virginia Nature centers in Virginia Buildings and structures completed in 1933 Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Protected areas established in 1933 1933 establishments in Virginia

Beaches of Virginia 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 Commo ...

Bike paths in Virginia

History

Historic district

See also

References

External links