Coordinates: 36°58′N 76°22′W / 36.967°N 76.367°W / 36.967; -76.367

Hampton Roads

Hampton Roads

Coordinates: 36°58′31″N 76°20′59″W / 36.97515°N 76.34967°W / 36.97515; -76.34967

Country United States

State(s)  - Virginia  - North Carolina

Largest city Virginia
Virginia Beach

Other cities  - Norfolk  - Chesapeake  - Newport News  - Hampton  - Portsmouth  - Suffolk  - Poquoson  - Williamsburg

Area

 • Total 3,729.76 [2] sq mi (Formatting error: invalid input when rounding km2)

Highest elevation 144 ft (34 m)

Lowest elevation 0 ft (0 m)

Population

 • Total 1,724,876 [1]

 • Rank 37th in the U.S.

 • Density 3,264/sq mi (1,260/km2)

Hampton Roads

Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in Virginia
Virginia and the surrounding metropolitan region in Southeastern Virginia
Virginia and Northeastern North Carolina, United States. Comprising the Virginia Beach–Norfolk–Newport News, VA–NC metropolitan area and an extended Combined Statistical Area
Combined Statistical Area that includes the Elizabeth City, NC Micropolitan Statistical Area and Kill Devil Hills, NC Micropolitan Statistical Area, Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is known for its large military presence, ice-free harbor, shipyards, coal piers, and miles of waterfront property and beaches, all of which contribute to the diversity and stability of the region's economy. The body of water known as Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is one of the world's largest natural harbors (more accurately a roadstead or "roads"). It incorporates the mouths of the Elizabeth River, Nansemond River, and James River
James River with several smaller rivers and empties into the Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay near its mouth leading to the Atlantic Ocean.[3][4] The land area includes a collection of cities, counties and towns on the Virginia
Virginia Peninsula and in South Hampton Roads. Some of the outlying areas further from the harbor may or may not be included as part of "Hampton Roads", depending upon the organization or usage. For example, as defined for federal economic purposes, the Hampton Roads metropolitan statistical area (MSA) includes two counties in northeastern North Carolina
North Carolina and two counties in Virginia's Middle Peninsula. The Virginia
Virginia Beach–Norfolk–Newport News, VA–NC MSA has a population of over 1.7 million, making it the 37th-largest metropolitan area in the United States.[5][6] The Combined Statistical Area includes four additional counties in North Carolina, pushing the regional population to over 1.8 million residents, the 32nd largest CSA in the country. The area is home to hundreds of historical sites and attractions. The harbor was the key to Hampton Roads' growth, both on land and in water-related activities and events. While the harbor and its tributaries were (and still are) important transportation conduits, at the same time they presented obstacles to land-based commerce and travel. Creating and maintaining adequate infrastructure has long been a major challenge. The Hampton Roads Bridge–Tunnel
Hampton Roads Bridge–Tunnel (HRBT) and the Monitor–Merrimac Memorial Bridge–Tunnel
Monitor–Merrimac Memorial Bridge–Tunnel (MMMBT) are major harbor crossings of the Hampton Roads Beltway
Hampton Roads Beltway interstate, which links the large population centers of Hampton Roads. In 2007, the Hampton Roads Transportation Authority (HRTA) was formed under a controversial state law to levy various additional taxes, fees, and tolls to generate funding for major regional transportation projects, including a long-sought but costly third crossing of the harbor of Hampton Roads.

Contents

1 Etymology 2 Definitions

2.1 Counties and independent cities

2.1.1 In Virginia 2.1.2 In North Carolina

2.2 Evolution of Hampton Roads 2.3 Combined Statistical Area

3 History

3.1 17th–19th centuries 3.2 20th century 3.3 Colonial Williamsburg 3.4 Other notable Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads "firsts"

4 U.S. military 5 Government 6 Geography 7 Demographics 8 Transportation 9 Education

9.1 Public universities 9.2 Private universities 9.3 Universities with satellite campuses 9.4 University consortia 9.5 Technical education 9.6 Two-year colleges 9.7 Religious education

10 Economy

10.1 Federal impact 10.2 Commercial growth 10.3 America's first region

11 Flag 12 Culture

12.1 Attractions, museums and sites of interest

12.1.1 Historic Triangle 12.1.2 Peninsula museums

12.2 Harbor
Harbor tour sites

12.2.1 South Hampton Roads

12.3 Music and venues

13 Parks and recreation 14 Sports, entertainment, and mass assembly venues

14.1 Collegiate and other indoor arenas 14.2 Collegiate and other stadiums 14.3 Golf
Golf courses 14.4 Convention centers 14.5 Auditoriums and performing arts theatres

15 Media

15.1 Newspapers 15.2 Magazines 15.3 Television 15.4 Radio

16 Sports

16.1 Team sports 16.2 Individual sports 16.3 Professional wrestling

17 See also 18 References 19 External links

Etymology[edit] The term "Hampton Roads" is a centuries-old designation that originated when the region was a struggling English outpost nearly four hundred years ago. The word "Hampton" honors one of the founders of the Virginia
Virginia Company of London and a great supporter of the colonization of Virginia, Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton. The early administrative center of the new colony was known as Elizabeth Cittie, named for Princess Elizabeth, the daughter of King James I, and formally designated by the Virginia
Virginia Company in 1619. The town at the center of Elizabeth Cittie became known as "Hampton", and a nearby waterway was designated Hampton Creek (also known as Hampton River). Other references to the Earl include the area to the north across the bay (in what is now the Eastern Shore) which became known as Northampton, and an area south of the James River
James River which became Southampton. As with Hampton, both of these names remain in use today. The term "Roads" (short for roadstead) indicates the safety of a port; as applied to a body of water, it is "a partly sheltered area of water near a shore in which vessels may ride at anchor".[7] Examples of other roadsteads are Castle Roads, in another of the Virginia Company's settlements, Bermuda, and Lahaina Roads, in Hawaii. In 1755, the Virginia
Virginia General Assembly recorded the name "Hampton Roads" as the channel linking the James, Elizabeth, and Nansemond rivers with the Chesapeake Bay.[8] Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads has become known as the world's largest natural harbor[citation needed], in part because it is the northernmost major East Coast port of the United States which is ice-free year round. (This status is claimed with the notable exception of the extraordinarily cold winter of 1917, which was the entire U.S.'s coldest year on record.) Over time, the entire region has come to be known as "Hampton Roads", a label more specific than its other moniker, "Tidewater Virginia", which includes the whole coastal region of the state. The U.S. Postal Service changed the area's postmark from "Tidewater Virginia" to "Hampton Roads, Virginia" beginning in 1983.[8] Definitions[edit] Counties and independent cities[edit] The U.S. Census Bureau defines the " Virginia
Virginia Beach–Norfolk–Newport News, VA–NC MSA" as 16 county-level jurisdictions—five counties and nine independent cities in Virginia, and two counties in North Carolina. While the borders of what locals call "Hampton Roads" may not perfectly align with the definition of the MSA, Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is most often the name used for the metropolitan area. " Virginia
Virginia Beach–Norfolk–Newport News, VA–NC MSA" is a U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Area
Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). According to the 2010 Census, its population is 1,676,822[9] and the 2014 estimated population is 1,716,624. Since a state constitutional change in 1871, all cities in Virginia are independent cities and they are not legally located in a county. The OMB considers these independent cities to be county-equivalents for the purpose of defining MSAs in Virginia. Each MSA is listed by its counties, then cities, in alphabetical order and not by size.[citation needed] In Virginia[edit] The MSA consists of these locations in Virginia:[10]

Gloucester County Isle of Wight County James City County Mathews County York County City of Chesapeake City of Hampton City of Newport News City of Norfolk City of Poquoson City of Portsmouth City of Suffolk City of Virginia
Virginia Beach City of Williamsburg

In North Carolina[edit] The MSA also includes the following locations in North Carolina:

Currituck County Gates County

Evolution of Hampton Roads[edit] The Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads metropolitan area was first defined in 1950 as the "Norfolk–Portsmouth Metropolitan Statistical Area". It comprised the independent cities of Norfolk, Portsmouth and South Norfolk and the counties of Norfolk and Princess Anne. In 1952, Virginia
Virginia Beach separated from Princess Anne County.[11] In 1963, Virginia
Virginia Beach and Princess Anne County
Princess Anne County merged, retaining the name Virginia
Virginia Beach. The city was added to the MSA that year, while South Norfolk lost its metropolitan status. Also in 1963, Norfolk County and the City of South Norfolk merged to create the city of Chesapeake.[12] In 1970, Chesapeake was added to the MSA [13], while Virginia
Virginia Beach became a primary city.[14] In 1973, Currituck County, North Carolina
North Carolina was added to the MSA.[15] In 1983, the "Newport News–Hampton Metropolitan Statistical Area", comprising the cities of Newport News, Hampton, Poquoson and Williamsburg, and the counties of Gloucester, James City and York, was combined with the Norfolk– Virginia
Virginia Beach–Portsmouth MSA and renamed the "Norfolk– Virginia
Virginia Beach– Newport News
Newport News MSA".

Virginia
Virginia Peninsula Metropolitan Population History 1960–1980[16]

# Independent City County 1960 1970 1980

1 Newport News - 113,662 138,177 144,903

2 Hampton - 89,258 120,779 122,617

3 Williamsburg - - - 9,870

4 Poquoson - - - 8,726

5 - York County, VA 21,583 33,203 35,463

6 - James City County, VA - - 22,763

7 - Gloucester County, VA - - 20,107

Metropolitan Area total

224,503 292,159 364,449

In 1993, Isle of Wight, Mathews and Surry counties were added. Although Virginia
Virginia Beach had passed Norfolk as the state's largest city by 1990, it was not made the first primary city of the MSA until 2010. As a result of the 2010 Census, Gates County, North Carolina
North Carolina was added to the MSA, while Surry County, Virginia
Virginia was removed.[17]

Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads Metropolitan Population History 1950–2016[18]

# Independent City County 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2016 (estimate)

1 Virginia
Virginia Beach - - 8,091 172,106 262,199 393,069 425,257 437,994 452,602

2 Norfolk - 213,513 305,872 307,951 266,979 261,229 234,403 242,803 245,115

3 Chesapeake - - - 89,580 114,486 151,976 199,184 222,209 237,940

4 Newport News - - - - - 170,045 180,150 180,719 181,825

5 Hampton - - - - - 133,811 146,437 137,436 135,410

6 Portsmouth - 80,039 114,773 110,963 104,577 103,910 100,565 95,535 95,252

7 Suffolk - - - - 47,621 52,141 63,677 84,585 89,273

8 Williamsburg - - - - - 11,530 11,998 14,068 15,214

9 Poquoson - - - - - 11,005 11,566 12,150 12,017

- South Norfolk (defunct, 1950–1963) - 10,434 22,035 - - - - - -

10 - James City County, VA - - - - 34,859 48,102 67,009 74,404

11 - York County, VA - - - - 42,422 56,297 65,464 67,976

12 - Gloucester County, VA - - - - 30,131 34,780 36,858 37,214

13 - Isle of Wight County, VA - - - - 25,503 29,728 35,270 36,596

14 - Currituck County, NC - - - 11,089 13,736 18,190 23,547 25,809

15 - Gates County, NC - - - - - - 12,197 11,478

16 - Mathews County, VA - - - - 8,348 9,207 8,978 8,782

- - Surry County, VA - - - - - 6,829 - -

- - Norfolk County, VA (defunct, 1950–1963) 99,537 51,612 - - - - - -

- - Princess Anne County, VA (defunct, 1950–1963) 42,277 77,127 - - - - - -

Metropolitan Area total

445,800 579,510 680,600 806,951 1,443,715 1,576,370 1,676,822 1,726,907

Combined Statistical Area[edit] The Virginia
Virginia Beach–Norfolk, VA–NC Combined Statistical Area additionally includes the Elizabeth City, North Carolina
North Carolina Micropolitan Statistical Area, comprising:

Pasquotank County Perquimans County Camden County

and the Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina
North Carolina Micropolitan Statistical Area, comprising:

Dare County

As of the 2010 census, the total population of this Combined Statistical Area was 1,779,243, with a 2013 estimate of 1,810,266, a growth of 1.74%. It is currently the 32nd largest in the country and the 2nd largest in Virginia, after the Northern Virginia
Virginia portion of the Washington, D.C.–Arlington–Alexandria, DC–VA–MD–WV MSA. History[edit] Main article: History of Hampton Roads

The harbor area of Hampton Roads, from official state map of pre-civil war Virginia
Virginia circa 1858. image from the Library of Virginia

17th–19th centuries[edit] The first colonists arrived in 1607 when English Captain Christopher Newport landed at Cape Henry, today's City of Virginia
Virginia Beach, an event now called the "First Landing." However, his party moved on, in search of a more defensible area upriver, mindful of competitors such as the Spanish, who had built a failed settlement on the Virginia
Virginia Peninsula known as the Ajacán Mission. After exploring the James River, they established the first successful English colony in the New World
New World on Jamestown Island
Jamestown Island on May 14, 1607.[19] But the low, marshy site proved unhealthy and most of the colonists died, before a new Governor, Lord De La Warr
Lord De La Warr (Delaware) arrived with John Rolfe, who would establish the Virginia
Virginia tobacco industry.[19] The harbor and rivers of Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads were immediately recognised as prime locations for commerce, shipbuilding and military installations, with the fortifications at Old Point Comfort
Old Point Comfort established as early as 1610, and Gosport Navy Yard (later Norfolk Naval Shipyard) in 1767. The decisive battle of the Revolution was won at Yorktown in 1781, and the first naval action of the War of 1812
War of 1812 took place in Hampton Roads, when a Royal Naval vessel was seized by the American privateer Dash. Later the entrance from Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay was equipped with new fortifications ( Fort Monroe
Fort Monroe and Fort Wool), much of the building work being supervised by a young military engineer Robert E. Lee. During the American Civil War
American Civil War (1861–1865), the historic Battle of Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads between the first American ironclad warships, the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia, took place off Sewell's Point in 1862. The battle was inconclusive, but Union forces later took control of Hampton Roads, Norfolk, and the lower James River, though they were thwarted from venturing further upstream by a strong Confederate battery at Drewry's Bluff. Also in 1862, Fort Monroe
Fort Monroe was the launching place for Union General George McClellan's massive advance up the Virginia
Virginia Peninsula, which almost reached the Confederate capital Richmond, before the Seven Days Battles
Seven Days Battles forced him back. In 1865, as the Confederacy was near collapse, President Abraham Lincoln met with three senior Confederates at Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads in an unsuccessful bid for a negotiated peace.[20] Some former slaves had been camped near Fort Monroe, where they were declared to be Contraband of war, instead of being returned to their former owners. Booker T. Washington
Booker T. Washington was among the freedmen who attended the local school, which evolved into the present-day Hampton University. 20th century[edit] The Jamestown Exposition
Jamestown Exposition for the 300th anniversary of the 1607 founding of Jamestown was held at Sewell's Point
Sewell's Point in a rural section of Norfolk County in 1907. President Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt arrived by water in the harbor of Hampton Roads, as did other notable persons such as Mark Twain
Mark Twain and Henry Huttleston Rogers, who both arrived aboard the latter's steam yacht Kanawha. A major naval display was featured, and the U.S. Great White Fleet made an appearance. The leaders of the U.S. Navy apparently did not fail to note the ideal harbor conditions, as was later proved. Beginning in 1917, as the United States became involved in World War I under President Woodrow Wilson, formerly rural Sewell's Point
Sewell's Point became the site of what grew to become the largest Naval Base in the world which was established by the United States Navy
United States Navy and is now known as the Naval Station Norfolk. Twice in the 20th century, inhabitants mostly African American
African American were displaced when land along the northern side of the Peninsula primarily in York County west of Yorktown was taken in large tracts for military use during World War I and World War II, creating the present-day U.S. Naval Weapons Station Yorktown, which includes Cheatham Annex, and a former Seabee base which became Camp Peary. Communities including "the Reservation", Halstead's Point, Penniman, Bigler's Mill, and Magruder were all lost and absorbed into the large military bases. Although some left the area entirely, many of the displaced families chose to relocate nearby to Grove, an unincorporated town in southeastern James City County where many generations of some of those families now reside. From a population estimated at only 37 in 1895, Grove had grown to an estimated 1,100 families by the end of the 20th century. (To its north, Grove actually borders the Naval Weapons Station property and on its extreme east, a portion of the U.S. Army's land at Fort Eustis
Fort Eustis extends across Skiffe's Creek, although there is no direct access to either base). Colonial Williamsburg[edit] Main article: Colonial Williamsburg It was the dream of an Episcopal priest to save his 18th-century church building by turning Williamsburg into the world's largest living museum. Wlliamsburg replaced Jamestown at the very end of the 17th century after a disastrous fire. It was the capital of the colony and the new State of Virginia
Virginia from 1699 to 1780. The capital was moved to Richmond in 1780. Williamsburg became a "sleepy" small town. During the Civil War the Battle of Williamsburg
Battle of Williamsburg was fought nearby during the Peninsula Campaign
Peninsula Campaign in the Spring months of 1862.. The decaying town was not located along any major waterway and did not have railroad access until 1881. Perhaps due to the secure inland location originally known as Middle Plantation Williamsburg missed growth and economic expansion in the 19th century. The main economic engines were The College of William & Mary and Eastern State Hospital. The College of William and Mary
College of William and Mary was chartered by the Crown and is the only pre-Independence college to have kept it. In addition to the city's historic past, quite a few buildings of antiquity from the 18th century were still extant, although time was taking a toll by the early 20th century. The Reverend Dr. W.A.R. Goodwin of Bruton Parish Church motive was to only to save historic church building which was secured by 1907. He subsequently served in Rochester, New York
Rochester, New York for many years. Upon returning to Williamsburg in 1923 he realized that many of the other colonial-era buildings were deteriorating and their existence was at risk. Goodwin dreamt of a much larger restoration of the colonial town. A cleric of modest means, he first sought support and financing from a number of sources before successfully drawing the interests before receiving major financial support from Standard Oil
Standard Oil heir and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller Jr.
John D. Rockefeller Jr. and his wife Abby Aldrich Rockefeller. The result is the creation of Colonial Williamsburg
Colonial Williamsburg with extensive restoration of buildings such as the Wren Building
Wren Building of the College of William & Mary and the Governor's Palace, and the transformation of downtown Williamsburg area into Historic District of restored buildings. Many 19th century buildings were removed. By the 1930s, Colonial Williamsburg
Colonial Williamsburg had become the centerpiece of the Historic Triangle
Historic Triangle of Colonial Virginia. These were, of course, Jamestown, where the colony started, Williamsburg, and Yorktown, where independence from Great Britain was won. The three points were joined by the U.S. National Park Service's Colonial Parkway, a remarkable accomplishment in course of 27 years. The Historic Triangle
Historic Triangle area of the Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads region became one of the largest tourist attractions in the entire world. In Dr. Goodwin's words: " Williamsburg is Jamestown continued, and Yorktown is Williamsburg vindicated." See also: Historic Triangle Other notable Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads "firsts"[edit] America's first free public schools, the Syms and Eaton free schools (later combined as Syms-Eaton Academy), were established in Hampton in 1634 and 1659 respectively. The Syms-Eaton Academy was later renamed Hampton Academy and in 1852 became part of the public school system, thus Hampton High School lays claim to being the oldest public school in the United States.[21] The trust fund created from the Syms and Eaton donations has remained intact since the 17th century and was incorporated into support for the Hampton public school system.[22] In 1957, the Hampton Roads Bridge–Tunnel
Hampton Roads Bridge–Tunnel was the first bridge–tunnel complex in the world, to be followed by the area's much longer Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel in 1963. This was followed by the Monitor–Merrimac Memorial Bridge–Tunnel
Monitor–Merrimac Memorial Bridge–Tunnel in 1992. The prevalence of bridge–tunnels in the area is due to the number of shipbuilding and naval bases in the area. Access to the open ocean from Norfolk Naval Shipyard
Norfolk Naval Shipyard (in Portsmouth), Naval Station Norfolk, Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek – Fort Story, and Newport News Shipbuilding (where all U.S. nuclear aircraft carriers have been built) do not pass under any bridges. Passing under bridges was considered a potential threat to the U.S. fleet. In the 1960s, the first astronauts of Project Mercury
Project Mercury trained at the NASA
NASA facility adjacent to Hampton's Langley Air Force Base. Local features including Mercury Boulevard and a succession of astronaut-name bridges over the Hampton creek commemorate this fact. U.S. military[edit] The military has a large presence in the region. Area military facilities (alphabetically) include:

Camp Allen, in Norfolk Camp Peary, in York County Coast Guard 5th District, in Portsmouth Coast Guard Base Portsmouth in Portsmouth Coast Guard Training Center Yorktown, in York County Fleet Training Center Dam Neck, in Virginia
Virginia Beach Fort Eustis, in Newport News Fort Monroe, in Hampton (closed in September 2011) Joint Expeditionary Base East, in Virginia
Virginia Beach Lafayette River Complex (LRC), in Norfolk Langley Air Force Base, in Hampton Naval Air Station Oceana, in Virginia
Virginia Beach Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, in Virginia
Virginia Beach Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, in Portsmouth Naval Station Norfolk, in Norfolk Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads, in Chesapeake

Naval Consolidated Brig, Chesapeake

Naval Support Activity Northwest Annex, in Chesapeake Naval Weapons Station Yorktown, in York County Norfolk Naval Shipyard, in Portsmouth (not to be confused with Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, in Kittery, Maine) Saint Julian's Creek Naval Depot Annex, in Chesapeake

Government[edit] The area consists of ten independent cities and seven counties. Each independent city has the powers and responsibilities of a county, including maintaining roads, courts, schools, and public safety. Some cities share these responsibilities with an adjoining county. Incorporated towns located within counties in Virginia
Virginia do not operate independently. The localities come together to consult on regional issues. Virginia defines regional planning districts by law. District members are usually independent cities and counties. Localities around the state may belong to more than one Planning District, as their constituents may have interests which cross over individual planning district boundaries. The Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads Planning District Commission (HRPDC) currently includes 16 cities and counties in Virginia, and represents over 1.6 million people. The 16 jurisdictions include:

the Cities of Chesapeake, Franklin, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Poquoson, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Virginia
Virginia Beach, and Williamsburg, the Counties of Gloucester, Isle of Wight, James City, Southampton, Surry, and York

There are incorporated towns in three of the counties (Isle of Wight, Southampton and Surry) within the district.[23] The differences between the service area of the HRPDC and the federally defined metropolitan statistical area (MSA) are:

Southampton County and the City of Franklin are not in the MSA. Mathews County is in the MSA but not the HRPDC. The MSA includes Currituck County, North Carolina, but the HRPDC does not.

The federal government has two major research laboratories in the area. NASA-Langley, on the northeast edge of Hampton near Poquoson, is the home of a variety of aeronautics research, including several one-of-a-kind wind tunnels. The Department of Energy's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (known as 'Jefferson Lab')[24] conducts cutting edge physics research in Newport News; the lab hosts the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF)[25] and a kilowatt-class free-electron laser.[26] Geography[edit]

View of the Elizabeth River with Downtown Norfolk at top right. The carrier in the foreground is USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75).

The water area known as Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is a wide channel through which the waters of the James River, Nansemond River, and Elizabeth River pass (between Old Point Comfort
Old Point Comfort to the north and Sewell's Point
Sewell's Point to the south) into the Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Norfolk and Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads are among the worst-hit parts of the United States regarding effects of global warming. As of 2016, the region is a few decades ahead in feeling the effects of sea-level rise compared to many American coastal areas.[27][28][29][30] The geology and topography of the Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads region is influenced by the Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay Impact Crater which is one of three factors contributing to the sinking of Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads at a rate between 15 and 23 centimeters (5.9 and 9.1 inches) per century. The region has extensive natural areas, including 26 miles (42 km) of Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay beaches, the Great Dismal Swamp, picturesque rivers, state parks, wildlife refuges, and botanical gardens. Inland from the bay, the region includes Lake Drummond, one of only two natural lakes found in Virginia, and miles of waterfront property along the various rivers and waterways. The region's native flora is consistent with that of the Southeast Coastal Plain and the lower Southeast Maritime Forest. The land area which constitutes "Hampton Roads" varies depending upon perspective and purpose. Most of the land area of Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is geographically divided into 2 smaller regions: the eastern portion of the Virginia
Virginia Peninsula (the Peninsula) and South Hampton Roads (locally known as "the Southside"), which are separated by the harbor. When speaking of communities of Hampton Roads, virtually all sources (including the three discussed in the following paragraphs) include the seven major cities, two smaller ones, and three counties within those two subregions. In addition, the Middle Peninsula
Middle Peninsula counties of Gloucester and Mathews, while not part of the geographical Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads area, are included in the vast metropolitan region's population. Also, a small portion of northeastern North Carolina
North Carolina (Currituck County) is included in the region's statistics. Due to a peculiarity in the drawing of the Virginia- North Carolina
North Carolina border, Knott's Island in that county is connected to Virginia
Virginia by land, but is only accessible to other parts of North Carolina
North Carolina across waterways via a ferry system. Each of the following current cities, counties and towns is included by at least one of the three organizations that define "Hampton Roads"

Hampton is a Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads community.

The Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads area consists of nine independent cities (which are not part of any county). Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, and Virginia
Virginia Beach cover the Southside of Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads while Hampton, Newport News, Poquoson, and Williamsburg reside on the Peninsula. Franklin borders Suffolk but the Census Bureau does not consider it as a part of the metro area.[31] The metro area has one county in North Carolina, Currituck. The remaining counties, in Virginia, include Isle of Wight and Surry on the Southside, James City and York on the Virginia
Virginia Peninsula, and Gloucester and Mathews on the Middle Peninsula. While Southampton is adjacent to Surry, Isle of Wight, and the City of Suffolk, the Census Bureau does not consider it part of the metro area.[31] Five incorporated towns reside in the metro area including Claremont in Surry County, Dendron in Surry County, Smithfield in Isle of Wight County, Surry, Surry County's seat, and Windsor in Isle of Wight County. (Two other incorporated towns, Boykins and Courtland are located in Southampton County, and therefore, like the county within which they are located, are not part of the federally defined metropolitan area).[31] Other unincorporated towns and communities in the metropolitan area which are not within its cities include Gloucester Courthouse and Gloucester Point in Gloucester County, Isle of Wight Courthouse, Rushmere, Rescue, Carrollton, Benns Church, and Walters in Isle of Wight County, Yorktown, Grafton, Seaford, and Tabb in York County, Jamestown, Ford's Colony, Grove, Lightfoot, Toano, and Norge in James City County, Moyock, Knotts Island, and Currituck in Currituck County, North Carolina.[31] The Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads MSA, with a population of about 1.7 million, is the seventh largest metropolitan area in the Southeastern United States after Washington metropolitan area, Miami–Fort Lauderdale–Pompano Beach, FL MSA, Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Marietta, GA MSA, Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater, FL MSA, Orlando–Kissimmee, FL MSA, and Charlotte–Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC–SC MSA. Demographics[edit] According to the 2010 Census, the overall racial composition of Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads was as follows:[32]

White or Caucasian: 59.6% Black or African American: 31.3% American Indian: 0.4% Asian: 3.5% Some other race: 1.7% Two or more races: 3.4%

In addition, 5.4% of the population were Hispanic or Latino (of any race). 57.2% of the population were of non-Hispanic White background. Transportation[edit] Main article: Transportation in Hampton Roads

Ferry
Ferry between Norfolk and Portsmouth

Historically, from the earliest times, the harbor was the key to the Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads area's growth, both on land and in water-related activities and events. Ironically, the harbor and its tributary waterways were (and still are) both important transportation conduits and obstacles to other land-based commerce and travel. Yet, the community leaders learned to overcome them. In modern times, the region has faced increasing transportation challenges as it has become largely urbanized, with additional traffic needs. In the 21st century, the conflicts between traffic on vital waterways and land-based travel continue to present the area's leaders with extraordinary transportation challenges, both for additional capacity, and as the existing infrastructure, much of it originally built with toll revenues, has aged without an adequate source of funding to repair or build replacements. The now-closed Kings Highway Bridge in Suffolk and the Jordan Bridge
Jordan Bridge closed by neighboring Chesapeake in 2008 were each built in the 1920s. These were considered locally prime examples of this situation.[33][34] In 2007, the new Hampton Roads Transportation Authority
Hampton Roads Transportation Authority (HRTA) was formed under a controversial state law to levy various additional taxes to generate funding for major regional transportation projects, including a long-sought and costly additional crossing of the harbor of Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads (The Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel, Monitor-Merrimac Bridge Tunnel, and the James River
James River Bridge are the existing crossings). As of March 2008, although its projects were considered to be needed, the agency's future was in some question while its controversial sources of funding were being reconsidered in light of a Virginia Supreme Court decision.[35]

A tugboat in Norfolk

Newport News/ Williamsburg International Airport, located in Newport News, and Norfolk International Airport, in Norfolk, both cater to passengers from Hampton Roads. The primary airport for the Virginia Peninsula is the Newport News/ Williamsburg International Airport. The Airport experienced a 4th year of record, double-digit growth through 2011, making it one of the fastest growing airports in the country.[36] In 2012 however, the airport lost its biggest carrier and has seen massive declines in passenger service, culminating in layoffs of police officers and many other staff.[citation needed] Norfolk International Airport (IATA: ORF, ICAO: KORF, FAA LID: ORF), serves the region. The airport is located near Chesapeake Bay, along the city limits of Norfolk and Virginia
Virginia Beach.[37] Seven airlines provide nonstop services to twenty five destinations. ORF had 3,703,664 passengers take off or land at its facility and 68,778,934 pounds of cargo were processed through its facilities.[38] The Hampton Roads Executive Airport
Hampton Roads Executive Airport (KPVG), located on US460/US58, is the state's 3rd busiest General Aviation airport and hosts the largest number of general aviation aircraft of any Virginia
Virginia airport. The airport offers flight training, avionics services, as well as major and minor airframe and powerplant repairs. There is also a sit-down restaurant in the terminal. The Chesapeake Regional Airport
Chesapeake Regional Airport (KCPK) provides similar general aviation services and is located in the city of Chesapeake. Additionally, many local general aviation pilots fly from the nearby Suffolk (KSFQ), Wakefield (KAKQ) and Franklin (KFKN) airports. Amtrak
Amtrak serves the region with Northeast Regional
Northeast Regional trains to its Norfolk, Williamsburg and Newport News
Newport News stations. The lines run west to Richmond then north to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C. and major cities north to Boston. Connecting buses are available between the Norfolk and Newport News stations and from both stations to Virginia
Virginia Beach. A high-speed rail connection at Richmond to both the Northeast Corridor
Northeast Corridor and the Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor
Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor are also under study.[39][40] Intercity bus
Intercity bus service is provided by Greyhound Lines
Greyhound Lines (Carolina Trailways) with bus stations in Newport News, Hampton, and Norfolk.[41] Transportation within Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is served by a regional bus service, Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads Transit.[42] Local routes serving Williamsburg, James City County, and upper York County is operated by Williamsburg Area Transit Authority.[43] A light rail service known as The Tide was constructed in Norfolk. It began service in August 2011.[44] Operated by Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads Transit, it is the first light rail service in the state. It is projected to have a daily ridership of between 7,130 and 11,400 passengers a day.[45] There has also been a light rail study in the Hampton – Newport News
Newport News areas.[46] In the 2016 election, a referendum was on the ballot in Virginia
Virginia Beach to kill the planned, and mainly state-funded extension of the Tide to the commercial center of Virginia
Virginia Beach and ultimately to the oceanfront. The ballot initiative won, cancelling the project. The transit authority and the state were left with new light rail cars and major infrastructure for the extension to be disposed of. There are no further plans for light rail mass transit initiatives within Virginia
Virginia Beach.

I-64 on the Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads Beltway, north of I-264

The Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads area has an extensive network of Interstate Highways, including the Interstate 64, the major east-west route to and from the area, and its spurs and bypasses of I-264, I-464, I-564, and I-664. The Hampton Roads Beltway
Hampton Roads Beltway extends 56 miles (90 km) on a long loop through the region, crossing the harbor on two toll-free bridge-tunnel facilities. These crossings are the Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel between Phoebus in Hampton and Willoughby Spit
Willoughby Spit in Norfolk and the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel
Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel between Newport News
Newport News and Suffolk. The Beltway connects with another Interstate highway and three arterial U.S. Highways at Bower's Hill near the northeastern edge of the Great Dismal Swamp. Other major east-west routes are U.S. Route 58, U.S. Route 60, and U.S. Route 460. The major north-south routes are U.S. Route 13 and U.S. Route 17. There are also two other tunnels in the area, the Midtown Tunnel, and the Downtown Tunnel
Downtown Tunnel joining Portsmouth and Norfolk, as well as the 17-mile (27 km)-long Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, a toll facility which links the region with Virginia's Eastern Shore which carries US 13.[47] The original Downtown Tunnel
Downtown Tunnel in conjunction with the Berkley Bridge were considered a single bridge and tunnel complex when completed in 1952, perhaps stimulating the innovative bridge-tunnel design using man-made islands when the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel was planned, first opening in 1957. The George P. Coleman Memorial Bridge is a major toll bridge connecting U.S. Highway 17 on the Peninsula at Yorktown with Virginia's Middle Peninsula region. Another major crossing of waterways is the James River
James River Bridge, carrying US 17 US 258, and SR 32 from Newport News
Newport News to Isle of Wight County.[48] The region is notable in that it has 2 types of public transport services via ferries. A passenger ferry is operated on the Elizabeth River between downtown areas of Norfolk and Portsmouth by HRT.[49] The Jamestown Ferry
Ferry (also known as the Jamestown-Scotland Ferry) is an automobile ferry system on the James River
James River connecting Jamestown in James City County with Scotland in Surry County. It carries State Route 31. Operated by VDOT, it is the only 24-hour state-run ferry operation in Virginia
Virginia and has over 90 employees. It operates four ferryboats, the Pocahontas, the Williamsburg, the Surry, and the Virginia. The facility is toll-free.[50] Education[edit] Hampton Roads' individual cities and counties administer their own K-12 education for their localities. In addition to public education, area residents have many private and religious school options. The area also has a number of higher education options for area residents. Some offer only associates and technical degrees and certificates, while others award advanced degrees, including doctorates. Some are publicly funded, but the region also has a number of private and for-profit colleges. Additionally, a number of universities have established satellite campuses in the region. Public universities[edit]

Old Dominion University
Old Dominion University Seal

The College of William and Mary
College of William and Mary in Williamsburg was founded in 1693 and has served as the second oldest institution of higher education in the United States.[51] Old Dominion University, founded as the Norfolk Division of the College of William and Mary
College of William and Mary in 1930, became an independent institution in 1962 and now offers degrees in 68 undergraduate and 95 (60 masters/35 doctoral) graduate degree programs. Norfolk's Eastern Virginia
Virginia Medical School, founded as a community medical school by the surrounding jurisdictions in 1973, is noted for its research into reproductive medicine[52] and is located in the region's major medical complex in the Ghent district. Norfolk State University is the largest majority black university in Virginia and offers degrees in a wide variety of liberal arts.[53] Christopher Newport University serves as a public university and is located in Newport News.[54] Private universities[edit] Regent University, a private university founded by Christian evangelist, television host and leader Pat Robertson, has historically focused on graduate education but is attempting to establish an undergraduate program as well.[55] Atlantic University, associated with the Edgar Cayce organization's Association for Research and Enlightenment (ARE), offers instruction in New Age subjects and an M.A. in Transpersonal Studies.[56] Virginia
Virginia Wesleyan University is a small private liberal arts college on the border of Norfolk and Virginia
Virginia Beach.[57] Hampton University, a private HBCU university, has a long history serving Hampton.[58] Universities with satellite campuses[edit] Several universities based outside Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads offer a limited selection of classes in the area. Virginia
Virginia Tech and University of Virginia
Virginia have established a joint teaching center in Newport News. George Washington University
George Washington University and Averett University
Averett University also maintain campuses there. Troy State University, Florida International University, and Saint Leo University
Saint Leo University offer classes, primarily connected to one or more of the area's military bases. University consortia[edit] The National Institute of Aerospace (NIA) is a consortium of member universities: Georgia Tech, Hampton University, North Carolina A&T, North Carolina
North Carolina State, Old Dominion University, University of Virginia, Virginia
Virginia Tech, the College of William and Mary, and Christopher Newport
Christopher Newport University. Their unique approach allows students pursuing M.S. and Ph.D. degrees the opportunity to take classes from any member university taught at the Institute. Technical education[edit]

Crim Dell in the heart of William & Mary's wooded campus

Area residents also have options for training for technical professions. The Apprentice School was founded in 1919 and offers four/five-year programs in mechanical and technical fields associated with the shipbuilding industry. Graduates from the Apprentice School go on to work at the Newport News
Newport News Shipbuilding.[59] Technology-focused ECPI University
ECPI University has campuses in Virginia
Virginia Beach and Newport News[60] while ITT Technical Institute
ITT Technical Institute has a campus in Norfolk. Bryant & Stratton College has campuses in Virginia
Virginia Beach Town Center and Peninsula Town Center.[61] The Culinary Institute of Virginia[62] is located in Norfolk. The Art Institute of Virginia
Virginia Beach offers programs in the media arts, design and culinary arts fields. Two-year colleges[edit] Three institutions in the Virginia
Virginia Community College System offer affordable higher education options for area residents. Tidewater Community College in Norfolk, Virginia
Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, and Portsmouth, Paul D. Camp Community College in Suffolk, Franklin, and Smithfield, and Thomas Nelson Community College
Thomas Nelson Community College in Hampton and Williamsburg offer two-year degrees and specialized training programs.[63][64] Religious education[edit] Bible training schools include Hampton University
Hampton University and Regent University, but also Canaan Theological College & Seminary, Bethel College and Victory Baptist Bible College and Seminary in Hampton, Tabernacle Baptist Bible College & Theological Seminary, Central Baptist Theological Seminary in Virginia
Virginia Beach, Providence Bible College & Theological Seminary in Norfolk and the Hampton Roads campus of the John Leland Center for Theological Studies. Economy[edit]

Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is home to four Fortune 500
Fortune 500 companies. Representing the food industry, transportation, retail and shipbuilding, these four companies are located in Smithfield, Norfolk, Chesapeake and Newport News.

2013 Fortune 500
Fortune 500 Corporations[65]

213 Smithfield Foods 247 Norfolk Southern 346 Dollar Tree 380 Huntington Ingalls Industries

Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads from space

Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads has become known as the "world's greatest natural harbor". The port is located only 18 miles (29 km) from open ocean on one of the world's deepest, natural ice-free harbors. Since 1989, Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads has been the mid-Atlantic leader in U.S. waterborne foreign commerce and is ranked second nationally behind the Port of South Louisiana based on export tonnage. When import and export tonnage are combined, the Port of Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads ranks as the third largest port in the country (following the ports of New Orleans/South Louisiana and Houston). In 1996, Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads was ranked ninth among major U.S. ports in vessel port calls with approximately 2,700. In addition, this port is the U.S. leader in coal exports. The coal loading facilities in the Port of Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads are able to load in excess of 65 million tons annually, giving the port the largest, most efficient and modern coal loading facilities in the world. It is little surprise therefore that the Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads region's economic base is largely port-related, including shipbuilding, ship repair, naval installations, cargo transfer and storage, and manufacturing related to the processing of imports and exports. Associated with the ports' military role are almost 50,000 federal civilian employees. The harbor of Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is an important highway of commerce, especially for the cities of Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Newport News. Huntington Ingalls Industries (formerly Newport News
Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company), was created in 2008 as a spinoff of Northrop Grumman Newport News
Newport News and is the world's largest shipyard. It is located a short distance up the James River. In Portsmouth, a few miles up the Elizabeth River, the historic Norfolk Naval Shipyard
Norfolk Naval Shipyard is located. BAE Systems, formerly known as NORSHIPCO, operates from sites in the City of Norfolk. There are also several smaller shipyards, numerous docks and terminals.

Huntington Ingalls' Newport News
Newport News Shipbuilding

Massive coal piers and loading facilities were established in the late 19th and early 20th century by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O), Norfolk and Western Railway
Norfolk and Western Railway (N&W), and Virginian Railway (VGN). The latter two were predecessors of the Norfolk Southern Railway, a Class I railroad
Class I railroad which has its headquarters in Norfolk, and continues to export coal from a large facility at Lambert's Point
Lambert's Point on the Elizabeth River. CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation now serves the former C&O facility at Newport News. (The VGN's former coal facility at Sewell's Point
Sewell's Point has been gone since the 1960s, and the property is now part of the expansive Norfolk Navy Base). Federal impact[edit] Almost 80% of the region's economy is derived from federal sources. This includes the large military presence, but also NASA
NASA and facilities of the Departments of Energy, Transportation, Commerce and Veterans Affairs. The region also receives a substantial impact in government student loans and grants, university research grants, and federal aid to cities. The Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads area has the largest concentration of military bases and facilities of any metropolitan area in the world. Nearly one-fourth of the nation's active-duty military personnel are stationed in Hampton Roads, and 45% of the region's $81B gross regional output is Defense-related.[66][67] All five military services' operating forces are there, as well as several major command headquarters: Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is a chief rendezvous of the United States Navy, and the area is home to the Allied Command Transformation, which is the only major military command of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on U.S. soil. Langley Air Force Base
Langley Air Force Base is home to Air Combat Command
Air Combat Command (ACC). The Norfolk Navy Base is located at Sewell's Point near the mouth, on the site used for the tercentennial Jamestown Exposition in 1907. For a width of 500 feet (150 m) the Federal government during 1902 through 1905 increased its minimum depth at low water from 25.5 to 30 feet (8 to 9 m), and the channel has now been dredged to a depth of 55 feet (17 m) in some places.

NASA
NASA Langley Research Center

NASA's Langley Research Center, located on the Peninsula adjacent to Langley Air Force Base
Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, is home to scientific and aerospace technology research. The Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (commonly known as Jefferson Labs) is located nearby in Newport News. Commercial growth[edit] The area's experiences with commercial and retail centers began early in 1918. Afton Square, located in the Cradock naval community of Portsmouth, was the first planned shopping center in the USA and has served as template for future developments throughout the nation.[68] Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads experienced tremendous growth during and after World War II. In the 1950s, a trend in retail was the shopping center, a group of stores along a common sidewalk adjacent to off-street parking, usually in a suburban location.

Lynnhaven Mall, opened in 1981, has 1,400,000 square feet (130,000 m2) and 180 stores.

In 1959, one of the largest on the east coast of the USA was opened at the northeast corner of Military Highway
Military Highway and Virginia
Virginia Beach Boulevard on property which had formally been used as an airfield. The new JANAF Shopping Center, located in Norfolk, featured acres of free parking and dozens of stores. Backed by retired military personnel, the name JANAF was an acronym for Joint Army Navy Air Force.[69] During the 1950s and early 1960s, other shopping centers in Hampton Roads were developed, such as Wards Corner Shopping Center, Downtown Plaza Shopping Center and Southern Shopping Center in Norfolk; Mid-City Shopping Center in Portsmouth; Hilltop Shopping Center (now known as The Shops at Hilltop) in Virginia
Virginia Beach; Riverdale Shopping Center in Hampton and the Warwick-Denbigh Shopping Center in Newport News. In the late-1960s, a new type of shopping center came to Hampton Roads: the Indoor Shopping Mall. In 1965, South Hampton Roads
South Hampton Roads broke ground on its first shopping mall in Virginia
Virginia Beach, known as Pembroke Mall. The mall opened in 1966, and became Hampton Road's newest indoor shopping destination. The Virginia
Virginia Peninsula had its first indoor shopping mall in 1973, with Coliseum Mall. Coliseum Mall drew so much traffic from Interstate 64, that a towering flyover was built at the Mercury Boulevard and Coliseum Drive intersection, to accommodate eastbound mall traffic, from the Mercury Boulevard interchange. Coliseum Mall was demolished to make way for the open air mixed-use development Peninsula Town Center. Also in the 1970s, Tower Mall was built in Portsmouth, but was torn down and turned into the Victory Crossing shopping development. In Norfolk, Military Circle Mall on Military Highway
Military Highway was built across Virginia
Virginia Beach Boulevard from the large JANAF Shopping Center
JANAF Shopping Center with its own high-rise hotel right in the center. In 1981, Greenbrier Mall gave Chesapeake a shopping mall of its own as well, and Virginia
Virginia Beach got the massive Lynnhaven Mall
Lynnhaven Mall the same year. Chesapeake Square Mall was constructed in Chesapeake, Virginia
Virginia in 1989, near the border of Suffolk, Virginia, and has spawned a number of shopping centers in the surrounding areas.

MacArthur Center, opened in 1999, has 1,100,000 square feet (100,000 m2) and 140 stores.

MacArthur Center
MacArthur Center opened in March 1999, which made downtown Norfolk a prime shoppers destination, with the region's first Nordstrom department store anchor. MacArthur Center
MacArthur Center is compared to other downtown malls, such as Baltimore's Harborplace, Indianapolis' Circle Centre Mall, Atlanta's Lenox Square
Lenox Square Mall and most comparably to The Fashion Centre at Pentagon City
Fashion Centre at Pentagon City near Washington, D.C., in Arlington, Virginia. Currently, Virginia
Virginia Beach's Lynnhaven Mall
Lynnhaven Mall is the region's largest shopping center with nearly 180 stores, and is one of the region's biggest tourist draws, with the Virginia
Virginia Beach Oceanfront, Colonial Williamsburg, Busch Gardens Williamsburg
Busch Gardens Williamsburg and MacArthur Center. For a long time, the indoor shopping malls were seen as largely competitive with small shopping centers and traditional downtown type areas. However, in the 1990s and since, the "big-box stores" on the Peninsula and Southside, such as Wal-mart, Home Depot, and Target have been creating a new competitive atmosphere for the shopping malls of Hampton Roads.

Patrick Henry Mall, opened in 1987, has 714,310 square feet (66,362 m2) and 120+ stores

Several older malls such as Pembroke and Military Circle have since their grand openings been renovated, and others have been closed and torn down. Newmarket North Mall is now NetCenter, a business center (the Sears store remains). Coliseum Mall, in Hampton, has been redeveloped as Peninsula Town Center in a new style, in step with the latest commercial real estate trend: the nationwide establishment of "lifestyle centers". Additional malls which have closed include Mercury Mall in Hampton (converted to Mercury Plaza Shopping Center in the mid-1980s, then completely torn down in 2001), and Tower Mall in Portsmouth (Built in the early 1970s, then torn down in 2001).

Shopping mall Location Number of stores Area Year opened

Lynnhaven Mall Virginia
Virginia Beach 180 1,400,000 sq ft (130,000 m2) 1981

MacArthur Center Norfolk 140 1,100,000 sq ft (100,000 m2) 1999

Chesapeake Square Mall Chesapeake 130 800,000 sq ft (70,000 m2) 1989

Greenbrier Mall Chesapeake 120 809,017 sq ft (75,160 m2) 1981

Patrick Henry Mall Newport News 120+ 714,310 sq ft (66,400 m2) 1987

The Gallery at Military Circle Norfolk 120 944,447 sq ft (87,742 m2) 1970

Pembroke Mall Virginia
Virginia Beach 100 650,000 sq ft (60,000 m2) 1966

America's first region[edit] In late 2006, the Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads Partnership, a non-profit organization representing 17 localities (ten cities, six counties, and one town), all local universities and major military commands as well as leading businesses in southeastern Virginia, commenced a campaign aimed at branding the land area of Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads as "America's First Region". The new title is based on events in 1607 when English Captain Christopher Newport's three ships – the Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery landed at Cape Henry
Cape Henry along the Atlantic Coast in what is today Virginia
Virginia Beach. After 18 days of exploring the area, the ships and their crews arrived at Jamestown Island
Jamestown Island where they established the first English speaking settlement to survive in the New World
New World on May 14, 1607. Because the region's east-west boundaries (now the City of Virginia Beach and James City County) have not changed since 1607, the Partnership felt justified in labeling Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads "America's First Region". It unveiled the new brand before 800 people at the annual meeting of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce on December 13, 2006. A video shown that afternoon included endorsements from mayors and county board of supervisors chairs representing Hampton, Norfolk, Virginia
Virginia Beach, Williamsburg and James City County as well as the Governor of Virginia, Timothy Kaine.[70][citation needed] The mission of Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance (HREDA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to business attraction—marketing the Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads region as the preferred location for business investment and expansion. HREDA represents the cities of Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Poquoson, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Virginia
Virginia Beach, Williamsburg and Franklin, as well as the counties of Gloucester, James City, Isle of Wight, York, and Southampton.[71] Flag[edit]

Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads flag, adopted 1998

In 1998, a flag representing the Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads region was adopted. The design of the flag was created by a contest. The winner, sixteen-year-old Andrew J. Wall of Frank W. Cox High School
Frank W. Cox High School in Virginia
Virginia Beach, raised the new regional flag for the first time on the mast of a ship moored in the harbor. As conceived by student Andrew Wall and embellished by the selection committee, his flag is highly symbolic:

The ring of sixteen white stars stands for the cities and counties that comprise the region of Hampton Roads. The blue upper panel refers to the sea and sky, recalling the first European settlers at Jamestown in 1607, the first battle between ironclad ships in 1862, the importance of shipbuilding and ship repair in the area, as well as maritime commerce, fishing, recreational boating, and the major military and government installations around the area's shores. Agriculture, the environment, tourism, industry, and a healthy quality of life are suggested by the lower panel of green. The wavy white central band with three crests suggests past, present, and future. The wave also recalls the surf and sand dunes of the area as seen from the sea. Water is the central theme. It touches all the components and binds them together.[72]

Culture[edit]

Virginia's Historic Triangle

The area is most often associated with the larger American South. People who have grown up in the Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads area have a unique Tidewater accent
Tidewater accent which sounds different from a stereotypical Southern accent. Vowels have a longer pronunciation than in a regular southern accent.[73] Attractions, museums and sites of interest[edit] There's also a wealth of other points of history to explore in the Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads area. Led by the Historic Triangle
Historic Triangle area, Hampton Roads consistently rates among the top tourism destinations in the world. Cultural attractions include museums, historical sites, and venues from tiny to massively large for such things as art and musical shows. The region hosts two week-long visits by the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus each year with multiple performances at Norfolk Scope and the Hampton Coliseum, and even attracts a group of Circus Train Enthusiasts, railfans who watch, photograph and report on the blue or red unit trains as they make their move between the two sites, requiring a long inland trip through Petersburg and Richmond in order to avoid crossing the 10-mile (16 km) geographical distance across the harbor (a trip impassable directly by modern trains; the two bridge-tunnel facilities operated by VDOT accommodate only highway traffic). Historic Triangle[edit] The Historic Triangle
Historic Triangle is located on the Virginia
Virginia Peninsula and includes the colonial communities of Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown. The sites are linked by a scenic roadway, the National Park Service's Colonial Parkway. The Jamestown settlement in the Colony of Virginia
Virginia was the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. It was established by the Virginia
Virginia Company of London as "James Fort" on May 4, 1607, and was considered permanent after brief abandonment in 1610. It followed several failed attempts, including the Lost Colony of Roanoke. Jamestown served as the capital of the colony of Virginia
Virginia for 83 years, from 1616 until 1699. Historic Jamestowne
Historic Jamestowne is the archaeological site on Jamestown Island
Jamestown Island and is a cooperative effort by Jamestown National Historic Site (part of Colonial National Historical Park) and Preservation Virginia. Jamestown Settlement, a living history interpretive site, is operated by the Jamestown Yorktown Foundation, a state agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Williamsburg was founded in 1632 as Middle Plantation, a fortified settlement on high ground between the James and York rivers. The city served as the capital of the Colony of Virginia
Virginia from 1699 to 1780 and was the center of political events in Virginia
Virginia leading to the American Revolution. The College of William & Mary, established in 1693, is the second-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and the only one of the nine colonial colleges located in the South; its alumni include three U.S. presidents as well as many other important figures in the nation's early history. The city's tourism-based economy is driven by Colonial Williamsburg, the restored Historic Area of the city. Modern Williamsburg is also a college town, inhabited in large part by William & Mary students and staff. Yorktown is a one of the eight original shires formed in colonial Virginia
Virginia in 1682. The town is most famous as the site of the siege and subsequent surrender of General Charles Cornwallis
Charles Cornwallis to General George Washington and the French Fleet during the American Revolutionary War on October 19, 1781. Although the war would last for another year, this British defeat at Yorktown effectively ended the war. Yorktown also figured prominently in the American Civil War
American Civil War (1861–1865), serving as a major port to supply both northern and southern towns, depending upon who held Yorktown at the time. It is the eastern terminus of the Colonial Parkway
Colonial Parkway connecting these locations. Yorktown is also the eastern terminus of the TransAmerica Trail, a bicycle touring route created by the Adventure Cycling Association. Peninsula museums[edit] The Mariners' Museum, founded in 1930 by Archer and Anna Huntington, is an institution dedicated to bringing maritime history to the world. It is currently home to the USS Monitor
USS Monitor Center where 210 tons of artifacts recovered from the USS Monitor
USS Monitor are held, including the gun turret. The museum also consists of a 550-acre park and Lake Maury, through which is the five-mile Noland Trail. The permanent collection at the museum totals about 32,000 objects, equally divided between works of art and three-dimensional objects. The Mariners' Museum Library and Archive, now located in the Trible Library at Christopher Newport University, consists of over 78,000 books, 800,000 photographs, films and negatives, and over one million archival pieces, making it the largest maritime library in the Western Hemisphere.[74] The Virginia
Virginia War Museum covers American military history. The museum's collection includes, weapons, vehicles, artifacts, uniforms and posters from various periods of American history. Highlights of the museum's collection include a section of the Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall and the outer wall from Dachau Concentration Camp.[75] The Virginia
Virginia Living Museum, first established in 1966, combines the elements of a native wildlife park, science museum, aquarium, botanical preserve, and planetarium. The exhibits are themed on the geographic regions of Virginia, from the Appalachian Mountains to the offshore waters of the Atlantic Ocean, and includes more than 245 different animal species.[76] The Peninsula Fine Arts Center in Newport News
Newport News contains a rotating gallery of art exhibits. The center also contains a Studio Art School of private and group instruction for all ages. It maintains a permanent "Hands On For Kids" gallery designed for children and families to interact in what the center describes as "a fun, educational environment that encourages participation with art materials and concepts."[77] The Hampton University
Hampton University museum was established in 1868 in the heart of the historic Hampton University
Hampton University campus. The museum is the oldest African American
African American museum in the United States and one of the oldest museums in the State of Virginia. It contains over 9,000 objects, including African American
African American fine arts, traditional African, Native American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Island, and Asian art.[78] The Charles H. Taylor Arts Center is Hampton's public access arts center. It offers a series of changing visual art exhibitions as well as a quarterly schedule of classes, workshops and educational programs.[79] The Downing-Gross Cultural Arts Center in SE Newport News
Newport News contains a community-based art gallery, as well as arts classrooms and the Ella Fitzgerald Theater.[80] The Casemate Museum (where former Confederate President Jefferson Davis was imprisoned) is at Fort Monroe
Fort Monroe in the historic Phoebus area at Old Point Comfort
Old Point Comfort in Hampton.[81] NASA
NASA Langley Research Center
Langley Research Center is in Hampton, the original training ground for the Mercury Seven, Gemini, and Apollo Astronauts. Visitors are able to learn about the region's aviation history at the Virginia Air and Space Center in Hampton.[82] Air Power Park is an outdoor on-site display of various aircraft and a space capsule. It is located on Mercury Boulevard at the intersection of LaSalle Blvd, near the AF Base. The Biblical Art Gallery at Ivy Farms Baptist Church is Virginia's largest collection of pre-1900s religious art. Harbor
Harbor tour sites[edit]

Fort Wool
Fort Wool is located in the middle of the Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads harbor. Harbor tours departing from Hampton and Newport News
Newport News provide access to Fort Wool. Newport News
Newport News Shipbuilding – America's largest military shipbuilder – may also been seem from aboard a Hampton-based harbor tour.[83]

South Hampton Roads[edit] The Chrysler Museum of Art, located in the Ghent district
Ghent district of Norfolk, is the region's foremost art museum and is considered by The New York Times to be the finest in the state.[84] Of particular note is the extensive glass collection and American neoclassical marble sculptures. Nauticus, the National Maritime Center, opened on the downtown waterfront in 1994. It features hands-on exhibits, interactive theaters, aquaria, digital high-definition films and an extensive variety of educational programs. Since 2000, Nauticus
Nauticus has been home to the battleship USS Wisconsin, one of the last battleships to be built in the United States. It served briefly in World War II and later in the Korean and Gulf Wars.[85] The General Douglas MacArthur Memorial, located in the 19th-century Norfolk court house and city hall in downtown, contains the tombs of the late General and his wife, a museum and a vast research library, personal belongings (including his famous corncob pipe) and a short film that chronicles the life of the famous General of the Army.[86] Also in downtown Norfolk and inside Nauticus
Nauticus is the Hampton Roads Naval Museum, an official U.S. Navy museum that focuses on the 220 plus year history of the Navy within the region. The Children's Museum of Virginia
Virginia in Portsmouth has one of the largest collection of model electric trains and other toys. The Norfolk Naval Shipyard
Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth is one of the oldest shipyards and has the first dry dock on display. The Great Dismal Swamp
Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge (in Suffolk and Chesapeake) is accessed from U.S. Route 17
U.S. Route 17 in Chesapeake. The Suffolk-Nansemond Museum is in the restored Seaboard and Virginian Railway passenger train station in Suffolk. The Isle of Wight Museum is in Smithfield. The Contemporary Art Center of Virginia
Virginia located in Virginia
Virginia Beach features the significant art of our time. Music and venues[edit] The Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads region has a thriving music scene, with a heavy concentration thereof in the Virginia
Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, and Norfolk areas. Many clubs, venues, and festivals exist within the region, all playing host to a wide variety of musical styles. There are a few hundred bands that play routinely in the region, spanning multiple genres. There are also twenty to thirty musical acts based in the region that perform throughout Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads and its surrounding areas on a "full-time" basis. In addition, plenty of well known acts have come from the area. Some of the major rock/pop artists include Bruce Hornsby, Gary "U.S." Bonds, Juice Newton, Mae, Seven Mary Three, Gene Vincent, Keller Williams, and Steve Earle. Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald is the most recognizable jazz musician from the area. Robert Cray
Robert Cray and Ruth Brown
Ruth Brown are both prominent blues and R&B artists. Tommy Newsom is another famous jazz musician. Many prominent rap and hip hop artists come from the area including Chad Hugo, Clipse, Magoo, Missy Elliott, Nicole Wray, Pharrell Williams, Quan, Teddy Riley, and Timbaland. The region has a number of venues hosting live music and performances. Several of the larger (in order of maximum seating capacity) are:

Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater in Virginia
Virginia Beach (seating 20,000) Norfolk Scope
Norfolk Scope Arena in Norfolk (seating 13,800) Hampton Coliseum
Hampton Coliseum in Hampton (seating 13,800) Kaplan Arena
Kaplan Arena in Williamsburg (seating 10,175) Ted Constant Convocation Center
Ted Constant Convocation Center at Old Dominion University
Old Dominion University in Norfolk (seating 9,500) Portsmouth Pavilion in Portsmouth (seating 7,500) Le Palais Royal Theatre at Busch Gardens Williamsburg
Busch Gardens Williamsburg in James City County (seating 5,600) Ferguson Center for the Arts
Ferguson Center for the Arts in Newport News
Newport News (seating 1,725 and 453 in 2 separate concert halls) Lake Matoaka Amphitheatre at The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg (seating 1,700) The NorVa
The NorVa in Norfolk (standing 1,500)

Dozens of much smaller commercial establishments offer live music and other entertainment such as comedy shows and mystery dinner-theater throughout the region. Parks and recreation[edit] The Norfolk Botanical Garden, opened in 1939, is a 155-acre (0.6 km2) botanical garden and arboretum located near the Norfolk International Airport. It is open year-round.[87] The Virginia
Virginia Zoological Park, opened in 1900, is a 65-acre (260,000 m2) zoo with hundreds of animals on display, including the critically endangered Siberian tiger
Siberian tiger and threatened white rhino.[88] First Landing State Park
First Landing State Park and False Cape State Park
False Cape State Park are both located in coastal areas in Virginia
Virginia Beach. Both offer camping facilities, cabins, and outdoor recreation activities in addition to nature and history tours. First Landing is the site of Cape Henry
Cape Henry while False Cape is located at the southeastern end of Virginia
Virginia Beach.[89][90] Newport News
Newport News Park is located in the northern part of the city of Newport News. The city's golf course also lies within the park along with camping and outdoor activities. There are over 30 miles (48 km) of trails in the Newport News
Newport News Park complex. The park has a 5.3-mile (8.5-km) multi-use bike path. The park offers bicycle and helmet rental, and requires helmet use by children under 14. Newport News Park also offers an archery range, disc golf course, and an "aeromodel flying field" for remote-controlled aircraft, complete with a 400 ft (120 m) runway.[91] The region also has amusement parks which attract tourists and locals alike. The Virginia
Virginia Beach Oceanfront has Atlantic Fun Park (formerly called " Virginia
Virginia Beach Amusement Park"). Virginia
Virginia Beach also has Ocean Breeze Waterpark, Shipwreck Golf, and Motor World which were formerly combined into one as "Ocean Breeze Fun Park". As separate parks, they provide miniature golf, go-karts, water slides, pools, climbing wall, paintball area, and kiddie rides.[92][93] Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Water Country USA
Water Country USA are the major theme parks in Williamsburg. Sports, entertainment, and mass assembly venues[edit]

This section may contain indiscriminate, excessive, or irrelevant examples. Please improve the article by adding more descriptive text and removing less pertinent examples. See's guide to writing better articles for further suggestions. (July 2014)

normal seating capacity in parentheses Collegiate and other indoor arenas[edit]

Kaplan Arena
Kaplan Arena at William & Mary Hall at The College of William & Mary – Williamsburg (10,300) Ted Constant Convocation Center
Ted Constant Convocation Center at Old Dominion University
Old Dominion University – Norfolk (9,650) usually referred to as the Constant Center or The Ted Joseph G. Echols Memorial Hall
Joseph G. Echols Memorial Hall at Norfolk State University
Norfolk State University (8,500) Hampton Convocation Center
Hampton Convocation Center at Hampton University
Hampton University (8,200) Robert Freeman Center at Christopher Newport
Christopher Newport University – Newport News (6,000) Old Dominion University
Old Dominion University Fieldhouse – Norfolk (5,955) (Torn down in 2007) Gills Gymnasium at Norfolk State University
Norfolk State University (4,000) Jerome H. Holland Hall at Hampton University
Hampton University (3,000) Anderson Field House at Fort Eustis
Fort Eustis – Newport News
Newport News (2,200) Jane P. Batten Student Center at Virginia
Virginia Wesleyan College – Virginia
Virginia Beach (2,120) Boo Williams Sportsplex in Hampton, Virginia
Virginia (a 135,000 sq ft (12,500 m2). multisport complex, the largest sportsplex between Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C. and Greensboro, North Carolina). Opened March 14, 2008[94]

Collegiate and other stadiums[edit]

William "Dick" Price Stadium at Norfolk State University
Norfolk State University (30,000) football Foreman Field
Foreman Field at S. B. Ballard Stadium at Old Dominion University
Old Dominion University – Norfolk (20,118) football Walter J. Zable Stadium
Walter J. Zable Stadium at The College of William and Mary
College of William and Mary – Williamsburg (15,279) football Samuel C. Armstrong Stadium
Armstrong Stadium at Hampton University
Hampton University (14,000) football Norfolk Scope
Norfolk Scope – Norfolk (12,600) – Hockey, opened in 1971 Harbor
Harbor Park – Norfolk (12,067) – Baseball John B. Todd Stadium – Newport News
Newport News (11,000) football Joseph S. Darling Memorial Stadium – Hampton (8,000) football, track B. Herman Bailey Field – Yorktown (6,000) football Cooley Field – Williamsburg (3,000) football Old Dominion Soccer Complex
Old Dominion Soccer Complex – Norfolk (4,000) Union Kempsville Stadium – Virginia
Virginia Beach (5,100) football (recently demolished to build Reniassance Academy) Anheuser- Busch Field
Busch Field at The College of William and Mary
College of William and Mary – Williamsburg (4,450) soccer Pomoco Stadium at Christopher Newport
Christopher Newport University – Newport News (4,200) football Sanford B. Wanner Stadium at Warhill Sports Complex – Williamsburg (4,000) Powhatan Sports Complex – Norfolk (4,000) – football, lacrosse and field hockey, opened in fall 2006 Bud Metheny Baseball Complex
Bud Metheny Baseball Complex at Old Dominion University
Old Dominion University – Norfolk (3,000) baseball Marty L. Miller Field at Norfolk State University
Norfolk State University (1,600) Joe Plumeri Park at The College of William and Mary
College of William and Mary – Williamsburg (1,200) baseball Mark McCormack-Betsy Nagelsen Tennis Center at The College of William and Mary – Williamsburg Virginia
Virginia Beach Sportsplex – Virginia
Virginia Beach (est. 16,000) Football, soccer

Golf
Golf courses[edit] Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads has a number of public and private golf courses.[95]

Chesapeake – Cahoon Plantation – Three 9-hole, par 36 courses Chesapeake – Golf
Golf Club – One 18-hole, par 70 course Chesapeake – Battlefield Golf
Golf Club – One 18-hole, par 70 course Hampton – The Hamptons Golf
Golf Course – One 18-hole, par 71 Woods/Lakes Course Hampton – Woodlands Golf
Golf Course – One 18-hole, par 69 course Newport News
Newport News – Deer Run Golf
Golf Course – Two 18-hole courses Newport News
Newport News – Kiln Creek Golf
Golf & Country Club – One 18-hole, par 72 course Norfolk – Lake Wright Golf
Golf Course – One 18-hole, par 70 course Norfolk – Ocean View – One 18-hole, par 70 course. Portsmouth – Bide-A-Wee Golf Course – One 18-hole, par 72 course Portsmouth – Links at City Park – One 9-hole, par 30 course Smithfield – Cypress Creek Golfer's Club – One 18-hole, par 72 course Smithfield – Smithfield Downs Golf
Golf Club – One 18-hole, par 71 course. Suffolk – Sleepy Hole Park & Golf
Golf Course – One 18-hole, par 72 course Suffolk – Suffolk Golf
Golf Course – One 18-hole, par 72 course Suffolk – Riverfront Golf
Golf Course – One 18-hole, par 71 course Virginia
Virginia Beach – Bow Creek Municipal Golf
Golf Course – One 18-hole Virginia
Virginia Beach – Cypress Point Golf
Golf & Country Club – One 18-hole, par 72 course Virginia
Virginia Beach – Hell's Point Golf
Golf Club – One 18-hole, par 72 course Virginia
Virginia Beach – Heron Ridge Golf
Golf Course – One 18-hole, par 72 course Virginia
Virginia Beach – Honey Bee Golf
Golf Club – One 18-hole, par 70 course Virginia
Virginia Beach – Kempsville Greens Municipal G.C.- One 18-hole, par 70 course Virginia
Virginia Beach – Owl's Creek Family Golf
Golf Course – One 18-hole, par 62 course Virginia
Virginia Beach – Red Wing Lake Golf
Golf Course – One 18-hole, par 72 course Virginia
Virginia Beach – Stumpy Lake Golf
Golf Course – One 18-hole, par 72 course Virginia
Virginia Beach – Virginia
Virginia Beach National (VB NASH)– One 18-hole, par 72 course, Formerly TPC Va Beach Williamsburg – Colonial Golf
Golf Course – One 18-hole, par 72 course Williamsburg – Ford's Colony – Three 18-hole courses. Marsh Hawk course: Par 71. Blackheath course: Par 71. Blue Heron course: Par 72. Williamsburg – Golden Horseshoe Golf
Golf Club – Two 18-hole courses. Gold course: Par 71. Green course: Par 72. Williamsburg – Kingsmill Resort
Kingsmill Resort (Home of The Michelob Tournament) – Three 18-hole courses. River Course: Par 71. Woods Course: Par 72. Plantation Course (Designed by Arnold Palmer): Par 72. Also One 9-hole par-3 Williamsburg – Williamsburg National Golf
Golf Course – One 18-hole, par 72 course. Williamsburg – Two Rivers Country Club – One 18-hole course, par 72

Convention centers[edit]

Virginia
Virginia Beach Convention Center 516,522 sq ft (47,986 m2) opened early 2007 Williamsburg Convention Center 259,000 sq ft (24,100 m2) proposed Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads Convention Center – Hampton 258,000 sq ft (24,000 m2) The Exchange 73,000 sq ft (6,800 m2) opened 2017 Chesapeake Conference Center 37,000 sq ft (3,400 m2) Portsmouth Conference Center 37,000 sq ft (3,400 m2) Waterside Convention Center – Norfolk 35,000 sq ft (3,300 m2) City Center at Oyster Point
City Center at Oyster Point Conference Center – Newport News

Auditoriums and performing arts theatres[edit]

American Theatre – Hampton[96] Downing-Gross Cultural Arts Center – Newport News
Newport News (276 – Ella Fitzgerald Theater; several smaller rooms) [97] Fort Monroe
Fort Monroe Theatre – Hampton Hampton Coliseum
Hampton Coliseum – Hampton (13,800 – concerts, 9,777- basketball) Liberty Baptist Church, Hampton (3000)[98] Ogden Hall at Hampton University
Hampton University – Hampton Ferguson Center for the Performing Arts
Ferguson Center for the Performing Arts – at Christopher Newport University – Newport News Peninsula Community Theater – Newport News[99] Crispus Attucks Cultural Center – Norfolk Chrysler Hall
Chrysler Hall – Norfolk Devary Theatre at Norfolk Naval Base – Norfolk Harrison Opera House
Harrison Opera House – Norfolk Premiere Theatre (a.k.a. Granby Theatre) – Norfolk Riverview Theatre – Norfolk Jeanne and George Roper Performing Arts Center at Tidewater Community College – Norfolk Wells Theatre
Wells Theatre – Norfolk L. Douglas Wilder Performing Arts Center at Norfolk State University – Norfolk Portsmouth Pavilion- Portsmouth, Virginia Willett Hall
Willett Hall – Portsmouth Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts – Suffolk Regent University
Regent University Performing Arts Center – Virginia
Virginia Beach Rockwell Hall at Little Creek Amphibious Base – Virginia
Virginia Beach Sandler Performing Arts Center – Virginia
Virginia Beach Music Theatre of Williamsburg (752) Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall
Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall at The College of William and Mary
College of William and Mary – Williamsburg The NorVa
The NorVa – Norfolk The Push Comedy Theater – Norfolk

Media[edit] Newspapers[edit] Three daily newspapers serve Hampton Roads: The Virginian-Pilot in the Southside, the Daily Press on the Peninsula, and the six days a week Suffolk News-Herald that serves Suffolk and Franklin.[100] Smaller publications include the Williamsburg-James City County area's twice-weekly Virginia
Virginia Gazette (the state's oldest newspaper[101]), the New Journal and Guide, and Inside Business, the area's only business newspaper. Newspapers serving the Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads area include:

Daily Press – Newport News The Virginian-Pilot – Norfolk Suffolk News-Herald – Suffolk The Captain's Log – student newspaper of Christopher Newport University The Downtowner – Norfolk El Eco de Virginia
Virginia – Norfolk (Spanish language newspaper) Flagship News – Norfolk (military news) The Flat Hat
The Flat Hat – student newspaper of the College of William & Mary Glo-Quips – Gloucester Gloucester-Mathews Gazette-Journal – Gloucester The Hampton Script – student newspaper of Hampton University Inside Business – Norfolk (business news) Jewish News – Virginia
Virginia Beach The Mace & Crown – student newspaper of Old Dominion University The Marlin Chronicle – student newspaper of Virginia
Virginia Wesleyan College The New Journal and Guide – Norfolk The Oyster Pointer – Newport News The Smithfield Times – Smithfield Spartan Echo – student newspaper of Norfolk State University Tidewater News – Franklin The Virginia
Virginia Gazette – Williamsburg Yorktown Crier-Poquoson Post – Yorktown

Magazines[edit] Coastal Virginia
Virginia Magazine is one of the region's city and lifestyle magazine. The publication is published eight times a year and covers all of Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads and the Eastern Shore of Virginia.[102] Coastal Virginia
Virginia Magazine was formerly known as Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads Magazine. Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads Times serves as an online magazine for the region. Suffolk Living Magazine is another of the region's city and lifestyle magazines. The publication is published four times a year and covers the City of Suffolk. Suffolk Publications also produces Virginia-Carolina Boomers, a regional guide for Boomers in the area, which comes out twice a year.[103] Television[edit] The Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads designated market area (DMA) is the 42nd largest in the U.S. with 712,790 homes (0.64% of the total U.S.).[104] The major network television affiliates are WTKR-TV
WTKR-TV 3 (CBS), WAVY
WAVY 10 (NBC), WVEC-TV
WVEC-TV 13 (ABC), WGNT
WGNT 27 (CW), WTVZ
WTVZ 33 (MyNetworkTV), WVBT
WVBT 43 (Fox), and WPXV
WPXV 49 (Ion Television). The Public Broadcasting Service
Public Broadcasting Service station is WHRO-TV 15. WUND 2(UNC-TV/ PBS
PBS member station), broadcasting out of Edenton, North Carolina, serves as another PBS
PBS affiliate for the area. Area residents also can receive independent stations, such as WSKY broadcasting on channel 4 from the Outer Banks
Outer Banks of North Carolina, WGBS-LD broadcasting on channel 11 from Hampton, and WTPC 21, a TBN affiliate out of Virginia
Virginia Beach. Most Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads localities are served by Cox Cable
Cox Cable which provides LNC 5, a local 24-hour cable news television network. Suffolk, Franklin, Isle of Wight, and Southampton are served by Charter Communications.[105] Verizon FiOS
Verizon FiOS service is currently available in parts of the region and continues to expand, offering a non-satellite alternative to Cox. DirecTV
DirecTV and Dish Network are also popular as an alternative to cable television. Radio[edit] Norfolk is served by a variety of radio stations on the FM and AM dials, with towers located around the Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads area. These cater to many different interests, including news, talk radio, and sports, as well as an eclectic mix of musical interests.[106] Sports[edit] Team sports[edit] Norfolk serves as home to two professional franchises, the Norfolk Tides of the International League
International League and the Norfolk Admirals of the ECHL.[107] The Tides play at Harbor
Harbor Park, seating 12,067 and opened in 1993. The Admirals play at Norfolk Scope
Norfolk Scope Arena, seating 8,725 or 13,800 festival seating, which opened in 1971. Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads was formerly home to the ABA Virginia
Virginia Squires, alternating between Norfolk and Hampton, as well as Richmond and Roanoke. The Squires folded in 1976, after the league merged with the NBA. The Peninsula Pilots
Peninsula Pilots play in the Coastal Plain League, a summer baseball league. The Pilots play in Hampton at War Memorial Stadium seating 5,125 and opened in 1948.[108] On the collegiate level, four Division I programs—two on the Southside and two on the Peninsula—field teams in many sports, including football, basketball, and baseball; three currently play football in the second-tier FCS, while ODU recently moved up to the FBS football. The Southside boasts the Old Dominion Monarchs
Old Dominion Monarchs and the Norfolk State Spartans, both in Norfolk, while the Peninsula features the William & Mary Tribe in Williamsburg and Hampton Pirates
Hampton Pirates in Hampton. W&M is a member of the Colonial Athletic Association. Norfolk State and Hampton, both historically black institutions, compete in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.[109][110][111][112] ODU joined Conference USA, an FBS football conference, as a full FBS member in 2015. The area also has two Division III programs, one in each subregion—the Virginia
Virginia Wesleyan Marlins on the border of Virginia
Virginia Beach and Norfolk,[113] and the Christopher Newport University Captains in Newport News. The Captains sponsor fourteen sports and currently compete in the USA South Athletic Conference,[114] but will move to the Capital Athletic Conference
Capital Athletic Conference in July 2013. Virginia
Virginia Beach serves as home to two soccer teams, the Hampton Roads Piranhas, a men's team in the Premier Development League, and a women's team by the same name in the W-League. The Piranhas play at the Virginia
Virginia Beach Sportsplex. The Virginia
Virginia Beach Sportsplex, seating 11,541 and opened in 1999, contains the central training site for the U.S. women's national field hockey team.[115] The Sportsplex was expanded to accommodate the Virginia
Virginia Destroyers, a franchise in the United Football League which relocated from Orlando. The Destroyers played in Virginia
Virginia Beach from 2011-12, and won the 2011 league championship. The North American Sand Soccer Championships, a beach soccer tournament, is held annually on the beach in Virginia
Virginia Beach. The Norfolk Nighthawks
Norfolk Nighthawks were a charter member of the Arena Football League's minor league, af2. They ceased operations in 2003 after their fourth season. Also, the Virginia
Virginia Beach Mariners of soccer's USL First Division were active from 1994 until 2006. Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is 130 miles (210 km) from the nearest major sports teams in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C. and Raleigh, North Carolina. Another significant issue with the area as a sports market is internal transportation. The metropolitan area is split into two distinct parts by its eponymous harbor; as of 2012, the harbor has only three widely separated road crossings (the Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel, and James River
James River Bridge), each with two lanes of traffic in each direction. In addition, the area has two other major tunnels, plus several drawbridges on key highway corridors. Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads previously hosted a successful franchise in the American Basketball Association, although it was never a full-time home for that team. Its highest-ranking teams as of 2015 are the Norfolk Admirals of the ECHL, and the Norfolk Tides
Norfolk Tides of the IL. Virginia
Virginia is also the most populous state without a major team playing within its borders, though its northern reaches are served by the Washington clubs—two of which, the NHL's Capitals and NFL's Redskins, have their operational headquarters and practice facilities in Virginia. Redskins owner Daniel Snyder, through a separate company, owns two radio stations, WXTG and WXTG-FM, in the Norfolk market. The Hampton Roads television market is ranked 42nd in the U.S. There have been several failed projects to attract major league teams to Hampton Roads:

In 1997, Norfolk presented a proposal to bring an expansion hockey team to Hampton Roads, but that initiative failed. The team was going to be called the Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads Rhinos. In 2002, Norfolk presented a proposal to bring the Charlotte Hornets basketball team to southeastern Virginia, but New Orleans won the bid for the team, renaming it the New Orleans Hornets. In 2004, Norfolk presented a proposal to bring the Montreal Expos baseball team to the metro area, but Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C. won the bid for the team, renaming it the Washington Nationals. In 2012, there were talks of the Sacramento Kings of the NBA
NBA moving to a proposed new arena in Virginia
Virginia Beach near the Oceanfront.[116]

Individual sports[edit] The Hampton Coliseum, seating 10,761 to 13,800 festival seating, hosts the annual Virginia
Virginia Duals wrestling events, and the annual Hampton Jazz Festival. The arena opened in 1970 and has previously hosted Hampton University
Hampton University basketball along with NBA
NBA and NHL preseason exhibition games. Virginia
Virginia Beach is home to the East Coast Surfing
Surfing Championships, 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 $40,000.[117] Langley Speedway in Hampton, seating 6,500, hosts stock car races every weekend during spring, summer, and early fall.[118] The Kingsmill Championship, an event on the LPGA
LPGA Tour, is contested annually on Mother's Day
Mother's Day weekend at Kingsmill Resort
Kingsmill Resort near Williamsburg. In 1998, 2001, 2006, and 2010 Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads was hosting the AAU Junior Olympics.[119] Professional wrestling[edit] Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads has hosted many professional wrestling events throughout the years. The Norfolk Scope
Norfolk Scope has served as the site of these events, including Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's Destination X, World Championship Wrestling's Starrcade (1988), World War 3 1995 and 1996, and WWF/WWE's The Great American Bash (2004)
The Great American Bash (2004) and the 2011 Slammy Awards.[120] Norfolk Scope
Norfolk Scope was also the site of an infamous episode of WCW Monday Nitro, where several members of the World Wrestling Federation stable D-Generation X
D-Generation X literally drove a tank to the entryway of the Scope, thus "invading" the competition. The Hampton Coliseum has also hosted many events, including RAW, in April 1998, August 2005, May 2007, January 2008, and July 2011, as well as SmackDown! and for ECW on Sci Fi
ECW on Sci Fi on December 2006. In January 2008, WWE broadcast its first television show taped in high definition from Hampton, Virginia. The Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads area is also home to at least one professional wrestling promotion, Vanguard Championship Wrestling, which holds events throughout the region, and has a weekly television show on the local Fox affiliate. See also[edit]

2003 Virginia
Virginia earthquake Colonial Williamsburg Former counties, cities, and towns of Virginia Historic Triangle Jamestown, Virginia List of people from Hampton Roads List of tallest buildings in Norfolk, Virginia South Hampton Roads Tidewater region Virginia
Virginia Peninsula Virginia
Virginia Port Authority

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Hampton Roads Partnership".  ^ http://www.hreda.com Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance ^ "Hampton Roads, Virginia
Virginia (U.S.)". Flags of the World.  ^ "Virginia's Many Voices". Fairfax County Public Library. Archived from the original on August 30, 2008. Retrieved March 7, 2008.  ^ The Mariners' Museum, http://marinersmuseum.org/visitor-information/museum-history ^ Exhibits Archived February 25, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. Virginia
Virginia War Museum. Accessed April 3, 2008. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on February 9, 2009. Retrieved October 25, 2013.  ^ Hands on For Kids Gallery Archived October 13, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. Peninsula Fine Arts Center. Accessed April 3, 2008. ^ " Hampton University
Hampton University Museum". Retrieved April 2, 2017.  ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 7, 2011. Retrieved August 12, 2011.  ^ "Home of the Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald Theater". Retrieved April 2, 2017.  ^ "Fort Monroe". Archived from the original on February 9, 2009. Retrieved February 2, 2009.  ^ " Virginia
Virginia Air and Space Center". Retrieved February 2, 2009.  ^ "Miss Hampton II Cruises". Retrieved February 2, 2009.  ^ Apple, Jr., R. W. "Norfolk Travel Guide". New York Times. Retrieved August 4, 2007.  ^ "Nauticus". Nauticus. Retrieved August 4, 2007.  ^ "MacArthur Memorial". City of Norfolk. Retrieved October 9, 2007.  ^ "Festevents". Norfolk Botanical Gardens. Retrieved August 6, 2007.  ^ " Zoo
Zoo History". Virginia
Virginia Zoo. Archived from the original on August 26, 2007. Retrieved October 13, 2007.  ^ "First Landing State Park". First Landing State Park. Retrieved March 20, 2008.  ^ "False Cape State Park". False Cape State Park. Retrieved March 20, 2008.  ^ Newport News
Newport News Park Newport News
Newport News Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism. Accessed April 3, 2008. ^ "MotorWorld". Motor World. Retrieved March 20, 2008.  ^ "Ocean Breeze Water Park". Ocean Breeze Water Park. Retrieved March 20, 2008.  ^ "Home". Retrieved April 2, 2017.  ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 10, 2011. Retrieved August 16, 2011.  ^ "The American Theatre". HamptonArts.net. Retrieved 12 April 2015.  ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved November 7, 2012.  ^ "Liberty Baptist Church". Retrieved 12 April 2015.  ^ "Peninsula Community Theater". Peninsula Community Theatre. Archived from the original on March 10, 2015. Retrieved April 12, 2015.  ^ " Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads News Links". abyznewslinks.com. Retrieved August 18, 2014.  ^ "University of Virginia
Virginia Library Acquires Rare Colonial Newspapers". University of Virginia. November 8, 2007. Archived from the original on December 15, 2012. Retrieved January 25, 2009.  ^ "Coastal Virginia
Virginia Magazine". VistaGraphics, Inc. Retrieved August 18, 2014.  ^ "Suffolk Living Magazine". Suffolk Publications. Retrieved June 27, 2011.  ^ Holmes, Gary. "Nielsen Reports 1.1% increase in U.S. Television Households for the 2006–2007 Season." Nielsen Media Research. September 23, 2006. Retrieved on September 28, 2007. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on February 2, 2009. Retrieved February 2, 2009.  Charter Communications ^ " Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads Radio Links". ontheradio.net. Retrieved August 6, 2007.  ^ "Norfolk Tides". Retrieved February 16, 2008.  ^ "Peninsula Pilots". Retrieved April 4, 2008.  ^ "ODU Monarchs". Retrieved February 16, 2008.  ^ "NSU Spartans". Retrieved February 16, 2008.  ^ "W&M Tribe". Retrieved April 4, 2008.  ^ " Hampton University
Hampton University Pirates". Retrieved February 1, 2009.  ^ "VWC Marlins". Archived from the original on January 25, 2008. Retrieved February 16, 2008.  ^ CNU Athletics Christopher Newport
Christopher Newport University. Accessed April 4, 2008. ^ " Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads Piranhas". Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads Piranhas. Retrieved March 12, 2008.  ^ "Report: Kings considering Virginia
Virginia Beach". Fox News. August 23, 2012.  ^ "ECSC". ECSC. Retrieved March 12, 2008.  ^ "Langley Speedway". Retrieved February 2, 2009.  ^ "The AAU Junior Olympics" Archived June 17, 2010, at the Wayback Machine., from "Hampton Roads: The State of the Region" ^ " Norfolk Scope
Norfolk Scope Arena, Norfolk, Virginia, United States - The Internet Wrestling Database". Retrieved April 2, 2017. 

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Hampton Roads". Encyclopædia Britannica. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 906–907. 

External links[edit]

Find more aboutHampton Roadsat's sister projects

Definitions from Wiktionary Media from Wikimedia Commons News from Wikinews Quotations from Wikiquote Texts from Wikisource Textbooks from Wikibooks Learning resources from Wikiversity

Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance Norfolk City Historical Society, contains essays History of Willoughby – Norfolk Public Library Roads to the Future – I-664 Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel

Articles Relating to The Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads Area

v t e

Hampton Roads

Virginia
Virginia Beach-Norfolk- Newport News
Newport News Metropolitan Area

Cities

Chesapeake Hampton Newport News Norfolk Portsmouth Poquoson Suffolk Virginia
Virginia Beach Williamsburg

Counties

Currituck Gloucester Isle of Wight James City Mathews Surry York

Towns

Claremont Dendron Smithfield Surry Windsor

Sub-regions

South Hampton Roads Virginia
Virginia Peninsula

Topics

Transportation People History Battle of Hampton Roads

Note: Cities are independent, not being part of any county

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Transportation in the Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads Region

Administered by HRTPO, HRTAC, CBBT CommissionVDOT and Commonwealth Transportation Board

Surface roadways

Interstates

I-64 I-264 I-464 I-564 I-664

U.S. Routes

US 13 US 17 US 58 US 60 US 460

Freeways

MLK Freeway Western Freeway Chesapeake Expressway

Highways

Military Highway Virginia
Virginia Beach Boulevard Bowers Hill Interchange Pinners Point Interchange

Water crossings

Bridges

Berkley Bridge Campostella Bridge Coleman Bridge Gilmerton Bridge High Rise Bridge James River
James River Bridge Jordan Bridge Lesner Bridge Veterans Bridge West Norfolk Bridge Great Bridge Bridge

Tunnels

Downtown Tunnel Midtown Tunnel

Bridge–Tunnels

Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads Bridge–Tunnel Monitor–Merrimac Memorial Bridge–Tunnel

Ferry

Jamestown Ferry Elizabeth River Ferry

Aviation, rail and transit services

Mass transit

Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads Transit The Tide (light rail) Williamsburg Area Transit Authority Suffolk Regional Transit

Intercity rail

Amtrak
Amtrak Northeast Regional

Newport News
Newport News station Norfolk station Williamsburg station

Commercial aviation

Norfolk International Airport Newport News/ Williamsburg International Airport

General aviation

Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads Executive Airport Suffolk Executive Airport Franklin Municipal Airport Chesapeake Regional Airport

Planned projects

Elizabeth River Tunnels Project I-64 Widening

Southside Peninsula

HRBT Expansion Southeastern Parkway US 460 Bypass Virginia
Virginia Beach Light Rail Extension

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Television stations in the Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads region, including Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Newport News, Virginia

Reception may vary by location and some stations may only be viewable with cable television Network O&Os are in bold

Digital television

WUND (2.1 PBS, 2.2 Kids, 2.3 Explorer, 2.4 North Carolina) WTKR
WTKR (3.1 CBS, 3.2 This TV) WSKY-TV
WSKY-TV (4.1 Ind., 4.2 Escape, 4.3 Laff, 4.4 Grit) WGBS-LD (7.1 Retro TV, 7.2 Infomercials, 7.3 Heartland) WAVY-TV
WAVY-TV (10.1 NBC, 10.2 Bounce, 10.3 getTV) WVEC
WVEC (13.1 ABC, 13.2 Justice, 13.3 MeTV, 13.4 Quest) W14DC (14.1 HSN2) WHRO (15.1 PBS, 15.2 World, 15.3 Kids, 15.4 Create) WYSJ-CA 19 (Classic TV) WTPC-TV (21.1 TBN, 21.2 Hillsong, 21.3 JUCE TV, 21.3 Smile, 21.4 Enlace, 21.5 Salsa) WVAD-LD (25.1 Daystar) WGNT
WGNT (27.1 CW, 27.2 Antenna, 27.3 TBD) WTVZ
WTVZ (33.1 MNTV, 33.2 Stadium, 33.3 Comet, 33.4 TBD) WJGN-CD (38.1 NRB) WVBT
WVBT (43.1 Fox, 43.2 Cozi TV) WPXV-TV
WPXV-TV (49.1 Ion, 49.2 qubo, 49.3 Ion Life, 49.4 Ion Shop, 49.5 QVC, 49.6 HSN)

Analog television

WVBN-LP 18 / WJHJ-LP 39 (The Walk TV)

Cable television

YurView Virginia

Defunct stations

WPEN-LP 68 (ind.) Local News on Cable WAVY
WAVY Weather Station

Virginia
Virginia broadcast television areas by city Bristol Bluefield Charlottesville Harrisonburg Norfolk Richmond Roanoke Washington, DC

North Carolina
North Carolina broadcast television areas by city Asheville Charlotte Greensboro Greenville, NC Myrtle Beach, SC Norfolk, VA Raleigh Wilmington

See also Salisbury TV

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Radio stations in the Norfolk– Virginia
Virginia Beach– Newport News
Newport News market

By AM frequency

560 670 740 790 850 940 1010 1050 1110 1230 1250 1270 1310 1350 1400 1420 1450 1490 1550 1600 1650

By FM frequency

88.1 88.3 88.5 88.7 89.1 89.5 89.9 90.3 90.7 90.9 91.1 91.5 91.7 92.1 92.3 92.9 93.3 93.7 94.1 94.9 95.7 96.1 96.5 96.7 96.9 97.3 97.7 97.7 97.9 98.7 99.1 99.3 99.7 100.1 100.5 100.9 101.3 101.7 102.1 102.9 103.5 103.7 103.7 103.9 104.1 104.5 104.9 105.3 105.7 106.1 106.9 107.7 107.9

NOAA Weather Radio frequency

162.550

By callsign

KHB37 W227BR W243DJ W245BB W249BH W249BM W250AE W257BV W261CN W279AD W280CX WAFX WBKU WBQK WBVA WCPK WCWM WCXL WFMI WFMZ WFOS WGAI WGH WGH-FM WGPL WHBT-FM WHKT WHOV WHRO-FM WHRV WJLZ WJOI WKGM WKJX WKQA WLQM WLQM-FM WMBG WMOV-FM WNIS WNOB WNOH WNOR WNSB WNVZ WORJ-LP WOWI WPCE WPMH WPTE WRJR WROX-FM WRPC-LP WRSF WRVS-FM WTAR WTJZ WTYD WUSH WVAB WVBW WVHT WVKL WVRL WVSP-FM WVXX WWDE-FM WWIP WXGM WXGM-FM WXTG WXTG-FM WYCS WYFI WZLV

Defunct stations

WJRX-LP/102.5 WRAP/850 WRRW-LP/102.5

Virginia
Virginia radio markets Bristol Fredericksburg Harrisonburg Norfolk–Newport News– Virginia
Virginia Beach Richmond Roanoke–Lynchburg Winchester

Other Virginia
Virginia radio regions Blacksburg–Christiansburg–Radford–Pulaski Bluefield Charlottesville Eastern Shore Farmville Northern Neck Roanoke Rapids–South Hill Southside Southwest Virginia Virginia
Virginia Highlands

See also List of radio stations in Virginia

v t e

Sports in Hampton Roads, Virginia

Baseball

IL Norfolk Tides ALPB Virginia
Virginia Beach Neptunes CPL Peninsula Pilots

Golf

LPGA Kingsmill Championship Amateur Eastern Amateur

Ice Hockey

ECHL Norfolk Admirals

Roller derby

WFTDA Dominion Derby Girls

Running

Rock 'n' Roll Virginia
Virginia Beach Half Marathon

Soccer

NPSL Legacy 76 Virginia
Virginia Beach City FC PDL Lionsbridge FC

Surfing

East Coast Surfing
Surfing Championships

College athletics

NCAA Div. I Hampton Pirates Norfolk State Spartans Old Dominion Monarchs William & Mary Tribe NCAA Div. III Christopher Newport
Christopher Newport Captains Virginia
Virginia Wesleyan Marlins USCAA Apprentice Builders

Venues

Albert-Daly Field Armstrong Stadium Bud Metheny Baseball
Baseball Complex Busch Field Foreman Field Hampton Coliseum Harbor
Harbor Park John B. Todd Stadium Joseph G. Echols Memorial Hall Kaplan Arena Kingsmill Resort Langley Speedway Marty L. Miller Field McCormack–Nagelsen Tennis Center Millie West Tennis Facility Norfolk Scope Old Dominion Soccer Complex Plumeri Park Pomoco Stadium Powhatan Sports Complex Ted Constant Convocation Center Virginia
Virginia Beach Sportsplex War Memorial Stadium William "Dick" Price Stadium Zable Stadium

v t e

City of Norfolk

Topics

Downtown History

Timeline

Neighborhoods Culture People Sports Media Education Economy Transportation Elizabeth River

Attractions

Attucks Theatre Chrysler Hall Chrysler Museum of Art Harbor
Harbor Park Harrison Opera House Nauticus Norfolk Scope Virginia
Virginia Zoo Waterside Wells Theatre Mermaids

Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads Metropolitan Area Virginia

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City of Virginia
Virginia Beach

Topics

History

Timeline

Culture People Sports Media Education Economy Fire Transportation

Parks

First Landing State Park False Cape State Park Mount Trashmore Munden Point Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge

Military

Naval Air Station Oceana Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek Fort Story

Attractions

Adam Keeling House Adam Thoroughgood House Atlantic Fun Park Atlantic Wildfowl Heritage Museum Cape Henry
Cape Henry Light Cape Henry
Cape Henry Memorial Ferry
Ferry Plantation House Francis Land House Lynnhaven House Military Aviation Museum Motor World Norwegian Lady Statues Ocean Breeze Water Park Old Coast Guard Station Museum Tidewater Arboretum Upper Wolfsnare Virginia
Virginia Aquarium Virginia
Virginia Beach Oceanfront Virginia
Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art

Neighborhoods

Alanton Bayside Chesapeake Beach Croatan Beach Great Neck Point Green Run Kempsville Kings Grant Lago Mar London Bridge Lynnhaven Oceana Pembroke Manor Princess Anne Pungo Salem Sandbridge Seatack Sigma Thalia Town Center

Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads Metropolitan Area Virginia

v t e

City of Newport News

Topics

History

Timeline

Culture People Education Economy Mayors Former Warwick County

Parks

Causey's Mill
Causey's Mill Park Newport News
Newport News Park Lake Maury King-Lincoln Park Hilton Pier/Ravine Denbigh Park Boat Ramp Endview Plantation

Military

Fort Eustis Joint Base Langley–Eustis Naval Weapons Station Yorktown

Neighborhoods

City Center Colony Pines Christopher Shores-Stuart Gardens Denbigh East End Glendale Hidenwood Hilton Village Jefferson Park Kiln Creek Lee Hall Menchville Morrison Newmarket North End Oyster Point Port Warwick Richneck Riverside Summerlake Village Green Warwick

Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads Metropolitan Area Virginia

v t e

The 100 most populous metropolitan statistical areas of the United States of America

New York, NY Los Angeles, CA Chicago, IL Dallas, TX Houston, TX Washington, DC Philadelphia, PA Miami, FL Atlanta, GA Boston, MA San Francisco, CA Phoenix, AZ Riverside-San Bernardino, CA Detroit, MI Seattle, WA Minneapolis, MN San Diego, CA Tampa, FL Denver, CO St. Louis, MO

Baltimore, MD Charlotte, NC San Juan, PR Orlando, FL San Antonio, TX Portland, OR Pittsburgh, PA Sacramento, CA Cincinnati, OH Las Vegas, NV Kansas City, MO Austin, TX Columbus, OH Cleveland, OH Indianapolis, IN San Jose, CA Nashville, TN Virginia
Virginia Beach, VA Providence, RI Milwaukee, WI

Jacksonville, FL Memphis, TN Oklahoma City, OK Louisville, KY Richmond, VA New Orleans, LA Hartford, CT Raleigh, NC Birmingham, AL Buffalo, NY Salt Lake City, UT Rochester, NY Grand Rapids, MI Tucson, AZ Honolulu, HI Tulsa, OK Fresno, CA Bridgeport, CT Worcester, MA Albuquerque, NM

Omaha, NE Albany, NY New Haven, CT Bakersfield, CA Knoxville, TN Greenville, SC Oxnard, CA El Paso, TX Allentown, PA Baton Rouge, LA McAllen, TX Dayton, OH Columbia, SC Greensboro, NC Sarasota, FL Little Rock, AR Stockton, CA Akron, OH Charleston, SC Colorado Springs, CO

Syracuse, NY Winston-Salem, NC Cape Coral, FL Boise, ID Wichita, KS Springfield, MA Madison, WI Lakeland, FL Ogden, UT Toledo, OH Deltona, FL Des Moines, IA Jackson, MS Augusta, GA Scranton, PA Youngstown, OH Harrisburg, PA Provo, UT Palm Bay, FL Chattanooga, TN

United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau population estimates for July 1, 2012

v t e

Colonial Williamsburg

History

Battle of Williamsburg Colonial Williamsburg
Colonial Williamsburg History Historic Triangle Middle Plantation Rich Neck Plantation

Structures

Abby Aldrich Rockefeller
Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum Alexander Craig House Bassett Hall Bruton Parish Church Capitol Charlton House Courthouse DeWitt Wallace
DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum Governor's Palace James Semple House John Crump House Matthew Whaley School Nicolson Store Palmer House Peyton Randolph House Raleigh Tavern St. George Tucker House Wetherburn's Tavern Williamsburg Inn Wren Building Wythe House

People

W. A. R. Goodwin The Rockefellers Abby Aldrich Rockefeller John D. Rockefeller Jr. Richard Taliaferro DeWitt Wallace George Wythe

Geography

Williamsburg Hampton Roads Jamestown Yorktown Virginia

Other

Carter's Grove
Carter's Grove Country Road Carter's Grove
Carter's Grove Plantation College of William & Mary Colonial Parkway Grand Illumination Merchants Square National Historic Landmark National Trust for Historic Preservation Peacock Hill Williamsburg: the Story of a Patriot

v t e

 Commonwealth of Virginia

Richmond (capital)

Topics

Administrative divisions Climate Colleges and universities Colony Congressional districts Delegations

Senators Representatives

Environment Furniture Government History Historic Landmarks Law Homes Music People Rights Rivers Scouting Slogan Sports teams State Fair State parks Symbols Tourist attractions Transportation Tribes

Seal of Virginia

Culture

Crime Demographics Economy Education

Newspapers Radio TV

Politics

Regions

Allegheny Mountains Atlantic Coastal Plain Blue Ridge Chesapeake Bay Cumberland Mountains Delmarva Peninsula Eastern Shore Hampton Roads Middle Peninsula Northern Neck Northern Virginia Piedmont Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians Shenandoah Valley South Hampton Roads Southside Southwest Virginia Tennessee Valley Tidewater Tri-Cities Virginia
Virginia Peninsula

Metro areas

Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford Bluefield Bristol Charlottesville Danville Harrisonburg Lynchburg Martinsville Richmond Roanoke Staunton-Waynesboro Norfolk- Virginia
Virginia Beach Washington-Arlington-Alexandria Winchester

Counties

Accomack Albemarle Alleghany Amelia Amherst Appomattox Arlington Augusta Bath Bedford Bland Botetourt Brunswick Buchanan Buckingham Campbell Caroline Carroll Charles City Charlotte Chesterfield Clarke Craig Culpeper Cumberland Dickenson Dinwiddie Essex Fairfax Fauquier Floyd Fluvanna Franklin Frederick Giles Gloucester Goochland Grayson Greene Greensville Halifax Hanover Henrico Henry Highland Isle of Wight James City King and Queen King George King William Lancaster Lee Loudoun Louisa Lunenburg Madison Mathews Mecklenburg Middlesex Montgomery Nelson New Kent Northampton Northumberland Nottoway Orange Page Patrick Pittsylvania Powhatan Prince Edward Prince George Prince William Pulaski Rappahannock Richmond Roanoke Rockbridge Rockingham Russell Scott Shenandoah Smyth Southampton Spotsylvania Stafford Surry Sussex Tazewell Warren Washington Westmoreland Wise Wythe York

Independent cities

Alexandria Bristol Buena Vista Charlottesville Chesapeake Colonial Heights Covington Danville Emporia Fairfax Falls Church Franklin Fredericksburg Galax Hampton Harrisonburg Hopewell Lexington Lynchburg Manassas Manassas Park Martinsville Newport News Norfolk Norton Petersburg Poquoson Portsmouth Radford Richmond Roanoke Salem Staunton Suffolk Virginia
Virginia Beach Waynesboro Williamsburg Winchester

v t e

 State of North Carolina

Raleigh (capital)

Topics

Climate Geography

State Parks Wildlife

History Media

Newspapers Radio TV

North Carolinians Politics

Government Law

Tourist attractions

Seal of North Carolina

Society

Culture

Music Sports

Crime Demographics Economy Education Elections Gambling

Regions

Western

Foothills High Country

Piedmont

Metrolina (Charlotte) Piedmont Triad Triangle

Eastern

Sandhills Cape Fear Crystal Coast Inner Banks Outer Banks

Largest cities

Asheville Cary Chapel Hill Charlotte Concord Durham Fayetteville Gastonia Greensboro Greenville High Point Jacksonville Raleigh Wilmington Winston‑Salem

Smaller cities

Albemarle Apex Asheboro Burlington Conover Eden Elizabeth City Garner Goldsboro Graham Havelock Henderson Hendersonville Hickory Kannapolis Kings Mountain Kinston Laurinburg Lenoir Lexington Lumberton Monroe Morganton New Bern Newton Reidsville Roanoke Rapids Rocky Mount Salisbury Sanford Shelby Statesville Thomasville Wake Forest Wilson

Major towns

Beaufort Boone Brevard Carrboro Clayton Cornelius Dunn Fuquay-Varina Harrisburg Holly Springs Hope Mills Huntersville Indian Trail Kernersville Knightdale Leland Matthews Midland Mint Hill Mooresville Morehead City Morrisville Mount Pleasant Oxford Shallotte Smithfield Southern Pines Tarboro Waynesville Winterville

Counties

Alamance Alexander Alleghany Anson Ashe Avery Beaufort Bertie Bladen Brunswick Buncombe Burke Cabarrus Caldwell Camden Carteret Caswell Catawba Chatham Cherokee Chowan Clay Cleveland Columbus Craven Cumberland Currituck Dare Davidson Davie Duplin Durham Edgecombe Forsyth Franklin Gaston Gates Graham Granville Greene Guilford Halifax Harnett Haywood Henderson Hertford Hoke Hyde Iredell Jackson Johnston Jones Lee Lenoir Lincoln Macon Madison Martin McDowell Mecklenburg Mitchell Montgomery Moore Nash New Hanover Northampton Onslow Orange Pamlico Pasquotank Pender Perquimans Person Pitt Polk Randolph Richmond Robeson Rockingham Rowan Rutherford Sampson Scotland Stanly Stokes Surry Swain Transylvania Tyrrell Union Vance Wake Warren Washington Watauga Wayne Wilkes Wilson Yadkin Yancey

v t e

The Battle of Hampton Roads

People

John Lorimer Worden Samuel Dana Greene Gideon Welles Franklin Buchanan Catesby ap Roger Jones Gustavus Fox Stephen Mallory French Forrest John Ericsson John Marston Louis N. Stodder

Ships

USS Monitor CSS Virginia USS Congress USS Cumberland USS Zouave USS Roanoke USS Minnesota USS St. Lawrence CSS Beaufort CSS Raleigh CSS Patrick Henry CSS Jamestown

Places

Hampton Roads Tidewater James River Elizabeth River Norfolk Fort Monroe Sewell's Point

Authority control

WorldCat Identiti