Willoughby Spit is a peninsula of land in the

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

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia B ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. It is bordered by water on three sides: the

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

to the north,

Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James, Nansemond and Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's Point where the Chesapeake Bay flows into the Atlantic ...

to the west, and Willoughby Bay to the south.

History

The area known as Willoughby Spit takes its name from Thomas Willoughby, who came to Virginia in 1610 and received his first of many

land grant A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...

s in 1625. Willoughby's son, Thomas II, was living there in the 1660s, and legend has it that his wife awoke one morning following a terrific storm (possibly the " Harry Cane" of 1667) to see a point of land in front her home, where there had been only water the night before. The Willoughby family, it is said, were quick to apply for an addendum to the original

, giving them ownership of the "new" property. Severe storms and

hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

would continue to transform the contour of the coast, and the Willoughby holdings, for more than a century. Although official records of Hampton Roads weather go back only to 1871 when the

National Weather Service The National Weather Service (NWS) is an agency of the United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weather-related products to organizations and the public for the ...

was established in downtown Norfolk, records of earlier storms have been located in ships' logs, newspaper accounts, history books and writings of early settlers. Residents of colonial coastal Virginia were very much aware of the weather. To people who lived near the water and derived much of their livelihood from the sea, a tropical storm was a noteworthy event. During a

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Dep ...

in 1749, the

rose above normal, and a sand spit was washed up at

Sewell's Point Sewells Point is a peninsula of land in the independent city of Norfolk, Virginia in the United States, located at the mouth of the salt-water port of Hampton Roads. Sewells Point is bordered by water on three sides, with Willoughby Bay to t ...

. With the help of the Great Coastal Hurricane of 1806, Willoughby Spit was formed. Over the course of the next centuries, general westward movement of sand was compounded by extensive erosion of the long beach of Willoughby Spit and the rest of Ocean View. Homes and businesses built too close to the water were routinely threatened by coastal storms, and recreational use was limited because of the narrow width of the beach. The City of Norfolk began implementing a "

beach nourishment Beach nourishment (also referred to as beach renourishment, beach replenishment, or sand replenishment) describes a process by which sediment, usually sand, lost through longshore drift or erosion is replaced from other sources. A wider beach ...

" construction project, which included the installation of

breakwaters A breakwater is a permanent structure constructed at a coastal area to protect against tides, currents, waves, and storm surges. Part of a coastal management system, breakwaters are installed to minimize erosion, and to protect anchorages, h ...

to try to reduce

beach erosion Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of waves, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts of storms. The landward ...

and protect the shoreline. Since then, the coastline has been improved to provide more beach for recreation, and a buffer from the power of a storm-driven oceans and

. The breakwaters are by no means a permanent fix and create problems of their own, influencing the movement of sand. The beaches and coastal areas are by nature unstable. After

Hurricane Isabel Hurricane Isabel was the strongest Atlantic hurricane since Mitch, and the deadliest, costliest, and most intense hurricane in the 2003 Atlantic hurricane season. Hurricane Isabel was also the strongest hurricane in the open waters of the Atlan ...

pounded on the coast of Norfolk in late 2003, Norfolk had to replenish the shore with of sand, costing the city around $3.8 million. Despite the costs of maintaining the coastline, renewed growth around the area and increased tourism have generated revenue that the region depends upon. The area of water now located between Sewell's Point and Willoughby Spit is known as Willoughby Bay.

Ferries, bridge-tunnel

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water ta ...

service operated between Willoughby Spit and

Old Point Comfort Old Point Comfort is a point of land located in the independent city of Hampton, Virginia. Previously known as Point Comfort, it lies at the extreme tip of the Virginia Peninsula at the mouth of Hampton Roads in the United States. It was renamed ...

across the mouth of

until 1958. In that year, the first portion of the new

Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel Hampton may refer to: Places Australia *Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia *Hampton, New South Wales *Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region *Hampton, Victoria Canada *Hampton, New Brunswick *Hamp ...

was completed. Today, the southern terminus of the

, which was expanded to four lanes in the 1970s, is located at the tip of Willoughby Spit. After leaving the bridge-tunnel,

Interstate 64 Interstate 64 (I-64) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the Eastern United States. Its western terminus is at I-70, U.S. Route 40 (US 40), and US 61 in Wentzville, Missouri. Its eastern terminus is at an interchang ...

, part of the

Hampton Roads Beltway The Hampton Roads Beltway is a loop of Interstate 64 and Interstate 664, which links the communities of the Virginia Peninsula and South Hampton Roads which surround the body of water known as Hampton Roads and comprise much of the region of the ...

, crosses a small portion of the spit and enters a bridge across the northern edge of Willoughby Bay.

Shire to county to city

The entire area of

South Hampton Roads South Hampton Roads is a region located in the extreme southeastern portion of Virginia's Tidewater region in the United States with a total population of 1,191,937. It is part of the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC MSA (Metropolitan S ...

was part of

Elizabeth City Shire Elizabeth City Shire was one of eight shires created in colonial Virginia in 1634. The shire and the Elizabeth River were named for Elizabeth of Bohemia, daughter of King James I. During the 17th century, shortly after establishment of Jamestown ...

when it was formed in 1634. From this original

shire Shire is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries such as Australia and New Zealand. It is generally synonymous with county. It was first used in Wessex from the begin ...

(or county), in 1636

New Norfolk County New Norfolk County is a long-extinct county which was located in colonial Virginia from 1636 until 1637. It was formed in 1636 from Elizabeth City Shire, one of the eight original shires (or counties) formed in 1634 in the colony of Virginia by di ...

was formed, soon divided into Upper and Lower Norfolk counties.

Lower Norfolk County Lower Norfolk County is a long-extinct county which was organized in colonial Virginia, operating from 1637 until 1691. New Norfolk County was formed in 1636 from Elizabeth City Shire, one of the eight original shires (or counties) formed in 1634 ...

was split in 1691 to form

Princess Anne County County of Princess Anne is a former county in the British Colony of Virginia and the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States, first incorporated in 1691. The county was merged into the city of Virginia Beach on January 1, 1963, ceasing to ...

and Norfolk County. The Willoughby Spit area was to remain part of Norfolk County for over 225 years. In 1923 it and the rest of Ocean View area were annexed by the independent City of Norfolk. (Virginia has had independent city political subdivisions since 1871).

Aircraft flight makes history

In 1910, Eugene Ely made aviation history when he successfully launched his Curtiss biplane from the modified deck of the cruiser U.S.S. ''Birmingham'' and landed on the beach at Ocean View's Willoughby Spit, becoming the first pilot to take off from a ship.*

References

External links