Chesapeake is an

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 ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 249,422, making it the second-most populous city in Virginia, the tenth largest in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 92nd-most populous city in the United States. Chesapeake is included in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. One of the cities in the

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 1,177,742 as of 2020. It is part of the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC MSA ( M ...

, Chesapeake was organized in 1963 by voter referendums approving the political consolidation of the city of South Norfolk with the remnants of the former Norfolk County, which dated to 1691. (Much of the territory of the county had been annexed by other cities.) Chesapeake is the second-largest city by land area in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the 17th-largest in the United States. Chesapeake is a diverse city in which a few urban areas are located; it also has many square miles of protected farmland, forests, and

wetlands A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

, including a substantial portion of the

Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge The Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge was created in 1974 to help protect and preserve a portion of the Great Dismal Swamp, a marshy region on the Coastal Plain of southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina between Norfolk ...

. Extending from the rural border with

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

to the harbor area of

Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond, and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's Point near whe ...

adjacent to the cities of Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, and Virginia Beach, Chesapeake is located on the

Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway The Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) is a inland waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the United States, running from Massachusetts southward along the Atlantic Seaboard and around the southern tip of Florida, then following th ...

. It has miles of waterfront industrial, commercial and residential property. In 2011, Chesapeake was named the 21st best city in the United States by Bloomberg ''Businessweek.'' Chesapeake is home to the international headquarters of

Dollar Tree Dollar Tree, Inc. is an American multi-price-point chain of discount variety stores. Headquartered in Chesapeake, Virginia, it is a ''Fortune'' 500 (sometimes referred to as Fortune 200) company and operates 15,115 stores throughout the 48 ...

History

In 1963, the new

of Chesapeake was created when the former independent city of

South Norfolk South Norfolk is a local government district in Norfolk, England. The largest town is Wymondham, and the district also includes the towns of Costessey, Diss, Harleston, Hingham, Loddon and Long Stratton. The council was based in Long S ...

consolidated with Norfolk County. The consolidation was approved, and the new name selected by the voters of each community by referendum and authorized by the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, and the first elected legislative assembly in the New World. It was established on July 30, ...

. Formed in 1691 in the

Virginia Colony The Colony of Virginia was a British colonial settlement in North America from 1606 to 1776. The first effort to create an English settlement in the area was chartered in 1584 and established in 1585; the resulting Roanoke Colony lasted for t ...

, Norfolk County had originally included essentially all the area which became the towns and later cities of

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

, and South Norfolk. Its area was reduced after 1871 as these cities added territory through annexations. Becoming an independent city was a method for the former county to stabilize borders with neighbors, as cities could not annex territory from each other. The relatively small city of South Norfolk had become an

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

within Norfolk County in 1919 and became an independent city in 1922. Its residents wanted to make a change to put their jurisdiction on a more equal footing in other aspects with the much larger cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth. In addition, by the late 1950s, although immune from annexation by the bigger cities, South Norfolk was close to losing all the county land adjoining it to the city of Norfolk in another annexation suit. The consolidation that resulted in the city of Chesapeake was part of a wave of changes in the structure of local government in southeastern Virginia which took place between 1952 and 1975. The Chesapeake region was among the first areas settled in the state's

colonial era Colonial period (a period in a country's history where it was subject to management by a colonial power) may refer to: Continents *European colonization of the Americas * Colonisation of Africa * Western imperialism in Asia Countries * Col ...

, when settlement started from the coast. Along Chesapeake's segment of the

Intracoastal Waterway The Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) is a Navigability, inland waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the United States, running from Massachusetts southward along the Atlantic Seaboard and around the southern tip of Florida, the ...

, where the Great Bridge locks marks the transition between the

Southern Branch Elizabeth River The Southern Branch Elizabeth River is a ,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 primarily tidal river in the U.S. state of Virginia. It flows from south to north ...

and the Chesapeake and Albemarle Canal, lies the site of the

Battle of Great Bridge The Battle of Great Bridge was fought December 9, 1775, in the area of Great Bridge, Virginia, early in the American Revolutionary War. The refusal by colonial Virginia militia forces led to the departure of Royal Governor Lord Dunmore and any ...

. Fought on December 9, 1775, in the early days of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, the battle resulted in the removal of Lord Dunmore and all vestiges of English Government from the Colony and Dominion of Virginia. Dismal Swamp01

Until the late 1980s and early 1990s, much of Chesapeake was either suburban or rural, serving as a

bedroom community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

of the adjacent cities of

and

Virginia Beach Virginia Beach (colloquially VB) is the List of cities in Virginia, most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in southeaster ...

with residents commuting to these locations. Beginning in the late 1980s and accelerating in the 1990s, however, Chesapeake saw significant growth, attracting numerous and significant industries and businesses of its own. This explosive growth quickly led to strains on the municipal infrastructure, ranging from intrusion of saltwater into the city's water supply to congested roads and schools. Chesapeake made national headlines in 2003 when, under a court-ordered

change of venue A change of venue is the legal term for moving a trial (law), trial to a new location. In high-profile matters, a change of venue may occur to move a jury trial away from a location where a fair and impartial jury may not be possible due to wides ...

, the community hosted the first trial of alleged Beltway sniper

Lee Boyd Malvo Lee Boyd Malvo (born February 18, 1985), also known as John Lee Malvo, is a Jamaican convicted mass murderer who, along with John Allen Muhammad, committed a series of murders dubbed the D.C. sniper attacks over a three-week period in October 20 ...

for shootings in 2002. A jury convicted him of murder but spared him a potential

death sentence Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

; it chose a sentence of "life in prison without parole" for the young man, who was 17 years old at the time of the crime spree. A jury in neighboring Virginia Beach convicted his older partner

John Allen Muhammad John Allen Muhammad (born John Allen Williams; December 31, 1960 – November 10, 2009) was an American serial killer. He and his accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo carried out a series of shootings in ten states from February through September 20 ...

and sentenced him to death for another of the attacks. On November 22, 2022, a mass shooting occurred in a

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

off of Battlefield Boulevard in Chesapeake. Seven people were killed, including the gunman who committed suicide, and four others were injured.

Geography

Chesapeake is located at (36.767398, -76.287405). According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (2.9%) is water. The northeastern part of the

Great Dismal Swamp The Great Dismal Swamp is a large swamp in the Coastal Plain Region of southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina in the eastern United States, between Norfolk, Virginia, and Elizabeth City, North Carolina. It is located in parts of t ...

is located in Chesapeake.

Environment

Chesapeake is one of the larger cities in Virginia and the nation in terms of land area. This poses challenges to city leaders in supporting infrastructure to serve this area. In addition, the city has many historically and geographically distinct communities. City leaders are faced with conflicts between development of residential, commercial and industrial areas and preservation of virgin forest and

. Within the city limits in the southwestern section is a large portion of the

Adjacent counties and cities

Portsmouth, Virginia Portsmouth is an Independent city (United States), independent city in southeastern Virginia, United States. It lies across the Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth River from Norfolk, Virginia, Norfolk. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...

(north) *

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

(north) *

Virginia Beach, Virginia Virginia Beach (colloquially VB) is the most populous city in the U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in southeastern Virginia. It is the sixth-most populous city in the ...

(east) *

Currituck County, North Carolina Currituck County ()
, from the North Carolina Collection's website at the University of North Ca ...

(south) *

Camden County, North Carolina Camden County is a consolidated city-county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 10,355, making it the fourth-least populous county in North Carolina. Its county seat is Camden. Camden County ...

(south) *

Suffolk, Virginia Suffolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. As of 2020, the population was 94,324. It is the List of cities in Virginia, 10th-most populous city in Virginia, the largest city in Virginia by bou ...

(west)

Communities

Chesapeake consists of six boroughs: South Norfolk, Butts Road, Deep Creek, Pleasant Grove, Western Branch and Washington. One of the boroughs, South Norfolk, used to be its own independent city and consolidated the surrounding portions of Norfolk County (extinct) into the City of Chesapeake.

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Chesapeake has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.

Demographics

2020 census

2010 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 222,209 people, 69,900 households, and 54,172 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 72,672 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 62.6%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 29.8% Black or African American, 0.4% Native American, 2.9% Asian, 0.1%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 1.2% from other races, and 3.0% from two or more races. 4.4% of the population were Hispanics or Latinos of any race. According to 2012 estimates 59.7% of the population is

non-Hispanic white Non-Hispanic Whites, also referred to as White Anglo Americans or Non-Latino Whites, are White Americans who are classified by the United States census as "White" and not of Hispanic or Latino origin. According to annual estimates from the Unit ...

. There were 69,900 households, out of which 41.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.7% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 14.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.5% were non-families. 18.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.79 and the average family size was 3.17. The age distribution was: 28.8% under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 32.3% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 9.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.4 males. For every 100 females aged 18 and over, there were 91.0 males. The median income for a household in the city was $50,743, and the median income for a family was $56,302. Males had a median income of $39,204 versus $26,391 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $20,949. About 6.1% of families and 7.3% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 9.7% of those under age 18 and 9.0% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Top employers

According to Chesapeake's 2020 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report and other sources (as indicated), the top employers in the city are:

Military

Chesapeake is home to two Navy bases: * Northwest Annex, located in the Hickory area * NALF Fentress

Points of interest

* Chesapeake Arboretum * Chesapeake and Albemarle Canal *

Dismal Swamp Canal The Dismal Swamp Canal is a canal located along the eastern edge of the Great Dismal Swamp in Virginia and North Carolina in the United States. Opened in 1805, it is the oldest continually operating man-made canal in the United States. It is p ...

Media

Chesapeake's daily newspaper is ''

The Virginian-Pilot ''The Virginian-Pilot'' is the daily newspaper for Hampton Roads, Virginia. Commonly known as ''The Pilot'', it is Virginia's largest daily. It serves the five cities of South Hampton Roads as well as several smaller towns across southeast Virgi ...

''. Other papers include the '' Port Folio Weekly'', the '' New Journal and Guide'', and the '' Hampton Roads Business Journal''. ''Hampton Roads Magazine'' serves as a bi-monthly regional magazine for Chesapeake and the

area. ''Hampton Roads Times'' serves as an online magazine for all the Hampton Roads cities and counties. Chesapeake is served by a variety of radio stations on the AM and FM dials, with towers located around the

area. Chesapeake is also served by several television stations. The Hampton Roads

designated market area A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television and radio station offerings, and may also incl ...

(DMA) is the 42nd largest in the U.S. with 712,790 homes (0.64% of the total U.S.).Holmes, Gary.
Nielsen Reports 1.1% increase in U.S. Television Households for the 2006-2007 Season
." ''

Nielsen Media Research Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

.'' September 23, 2006. Retrieved on September 28, 2007. The major network television affiliates are WTKR-TV 3 (

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

WAVY WAVY-TV (channel 10) is a television station licensed to Portsmouth, Virginia, United States, serving the Hampton Roads area as an affiliate of NBC. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Virginia Beach–licensed dual Fox affiliate/ CW ...

10 (

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

WVEC-TV WVEC (channel 13) is a television station licensed to Hampton, Virginia, United States, serving the Hampton Roads area as an affiliate of ABC. The station is owned by Tegna Inc., and maintains studios on Woodis Avenue in Norfolk; its transmitte ...

13 (

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

WGNT WGNT (channel 27) is an independent television station licensed to Portsmouth, Virginia, United States, serving the Hampton Roads area. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Norfolk, Virginia, Norfolk-licensed CBS affiliate WTKR (ch ...

27 ( CW),

WTVZ WTVZ-TV (channel 33) is a television station licensed to Norfolk, Virginia, United States, serving the Hampton Roads area as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV. Owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, the station maintains studios on Clearfield Avenue in ...

33 (

MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV (stylized as mynetworkTV; unofficially abbreviated MNT or MNTV) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its Fox Television Stations ...

), WVBT 43 (

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

), and WPXV 49 (

ION Television Ion Television (referred to on-air as simply Ion) is an American broadcast television network and FAST television channel owned by the Scripps Networks subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company. The network first began broadcasting on August ...

). The

Public Broadcasting Service The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the ...

station is

WHRO-TV WHRO-TV (channel 15) is a PBS member television station licensed to both Hampton and Norfolk, Virginia, United States. It is owned by the Hampton Roads Educational Telecommunications Association (HRETA), a consortium of 21 Hampton Roads and ...

15. Chesapeake residents also can receive independent stations, such as WSKY broadcasting on channel 4 from the Outer Banks of North Carolina and WGBS-LD broadcasting on channel 11 from

Hampton 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 ** Hampton railway station, Melbour ...

. Chesapeake is served by

Cox Communications Cox Communications, Inc. (also known as Cox Cable and formerly Cox Broadcasting Corporation, Dimension Cable Services and Times-Mirror Cable), is an American digital cable television provider, telecommunications and home automation services comp ...

which provides LNC 5, a local 24-hour

cable news Cable news channels are television networks devoted to television news broadcasts, with the name deriving from the proliferation of such networks during the 1980s with the advent of cable television. In the United States, the first nationwide ca ...

television network.

Politics

Chesapeake is a competitive region. It has voted for the winner of the electoral college in every presidential election since 1972, except in 1992, 1996, and 2024.

Education

Chesapeake City Public Schools is the local school district. The Chesapeake Public Library System includes seven branches and one lending kiosk. After getting a library card, resources can be checked out online or in person at any of the branches. Additionally, Interlibrary Loan requests can be made in person or online if a resource you want is available at a different branch. The Chesapeake Public Library offers a variety of educational, career, and literary services to community members. A core part of the mission of the Chesapeake Public Library is to “support learners at every level to succeed in their education and career paths”. This mission is accomplished in many ways, including free online classes for children and adults, access to a wide variety of digital educational resources, career help events, and creative/artistic programming.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Toll road

Tolls in Chesapeake are currently limited to the Chesapeake Expressway, Veterans Bridge and the Jordan Bridge, but new ones may be imposed on some existing facilities to help generate revenue for transportation projects in the region.

Airports

Chesapeake is served by the nearby

Norfolk International Airport Norfolk International Airport is northeast of downtown Norfolk, Virginia, Norfolk, within the boundaries of the independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It is owned and operated by the Norfolk Airport Au ...

in the City of Norfolk with

commercial airline An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in ...

passenger service. Within the city limits, Chesapeake Regional Airport is a

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...

facility located just south of Great Bridge. Also, within the city, is the Hampton Roads Executive Airport located near Bowers Hill and 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 o ...

. This airport caters to private airplane owners and enthusiasts. East of Great Bridge, NALF Fentress is a facility of the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

and is an auxiliary landing field which is part of the large facility at

NAS Oceana Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana or NAS Oceana is a United States Navy Naval Air Station located in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The station is located on 23.9 square kilometers. It has total of 250 aircraft deployed and buildings valued at $800 mi ...

in neighboring

River and ports

The

passes through Chesapeake. Chesapeake also has extensive frontage and port facilities on the navigable portions of the

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

and Southern Branches of the Elizabeth River. The

runs through Chesapeake as well. The site of this canal was surveyed by

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

, among others, and is known as "Washington's Ditch". It is the oldest continuously used man made canal in the United States today and has been in service for over 230 years. The canal begins in the Deep Creek section of the city branching off from the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River. The canal runs through Chesapeake paralleling

U.S. Highway 17 U.S. Route 17 or U.S. Highway 17 (US 17), also known as the Coastal Highway, is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that spans in the Southeastern United States. It runs close to the Atlantic Coast for much of its len ...

into

and connects to

Elizabeth City, North Carolina Elizabeth City is a city in Pasquotank County, North Carolina, Pasquotank county, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 18,629. Elizabeth City is the county seat and most populous city of Pasqu ...

Rail

Five

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

s currently pass through portions of Chesapeake and handle some intermodal traffic at port facilities on Hampton Roads and navigable portions of several of its tributary rivers. The two major

Class 1 railroad Railroad classes are the system by which freight railroads are designated in the United States. Railroads are assigned to Class I, II or III according to annual revenue criteria originally set by the Surface Transportation Board in 1992. With a ...

s are

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of track, it is the lead ...

and

Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

, joined by three

short line railroad A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that operates over a relatively short distance relative to larger, national railroad networks. The term is used primarily in the United States and Canada. In the former, railroads are ...

s. Chesapeake is located on a potential line for high-speed passenger rail service between Richmond and

which is being studied by the

Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (VDRPT) is an agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The agency's mission is "to connect and improve the quality of life for all Virginians with innovative transpor ...

. A new suburban passenger station near Bowers Hill would potentially be included to supplement a terminal in downtown Norfolk.

Highways

* * Chesapeake is served by U.S. Highways 13, 17, 58, and

460 __NOTOC__ Year 460 ( CDLX) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Magnus and Apollonius (or, less frequently, year 1213 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 460 ...

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

, part of the

, crosses through the city, Interstate 464 is a spur which connects it with downtown Norfolk and Portsmouth at the Berkley Bridge, and

Interstate 664 Interstate 664 (I-664) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in the US state of Virginia. The Interstate runs from I-64 and I-264 in Chesapeake north to I-64 in Hampton. I-664 forms the west side of the Hampton Roads Beltway, a circumfe ...

, which completes the Interstate loop from the Western Branch section of Chesapeake through the city of Newport News and into the city of Hampton. State Route 168 is also a major highway in the area. It includes the Chesapeake Expressway

toll road A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road for which a fee (or ''Toll (fee), toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented to help recoup the costs of road construction and ...

. Chesapeake is the only locality in the Hampton Roads area with a separate bridge division. The city's Department of Public Works, Bridges and Structures division has 51 full-time workers. The city maintains 90 bridges and overpasses. Included are five movable span (draw) bridges which open an estimated 30,000 times a year for water vessels.

Bus

Hampton Roads Transit buses serve the city of Chesapeake as well as other cities in the Hampton Roads Area.

Utilities

Water and sewer services are provided by the city's Department of Utilities. Chesapeake receives its electricity from

Dominion Virginia Power Dominion Energy, Inc., commonly referred to as Dominion, is an American energy company headquartered in Richmond, Virginia that supplies electricity in parts of Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina and supplies natural gas to parts of Ut ...

which has local sources including the Chesapeake Energy Center (a coal-fired and gas power plant), coal-fired plants in the city and Southampton County, and the Surry Nuclear Power Plant. Norfolk headquartered Virginia Natural Gas, a subsidiary of AGL Resources, distributes

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

to the city from storage plants in James City County and in the city. The Virginia tidewater area has grown faster than the local freshwater supply. Chesapeake receives the majority of its water from the Northwest River in the southeastern part of the city. To deal with intermittent high salt content, Chesapeake implemented an advanced

reverse osmosis Reverse osmosis (RO) is a water purification process that uses a partially permeable membrane, semi-permeable membrane to separate water molecules from other substances. RO applies pressure to overcome osmotic pressure that favors even distribu ...

system at its Northwest River water treatment plant in the late 1990s. The river water has always been salty, and the fresh groundwater is no longer available in most areas. Currently, additional freshwater for the

area is pumped from

Lake Gaston Lake Gaston is a reservoir in the eastern United States. Part of the lake is in the North Carolina counties of Halifax County, North Carolina, Halifax, Northampton County, North Carolina, Northampton, and Warren County, North Carolina, Warren. Th ...

, about west, which straddles the Virginia-North Carolina border along with the Blackwater and Nottaway rivers. The pipeline is long and in diameter. Much of its follows the former right-of-way of an abandoned portion of the

Virginian Railway The Virginian Railway was a Class I railroad located in Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The VGN was created to transport high quality "smokeless" bituminous coal from southern West Virginia to port at Hampton Roads. History ...

. It is capable of pumping of water per day. The cities of Chesapeake and Virginia Beach are partners in the project. The city provides wastewater services for residents and transports wastewater to the regional Hampton Roads Sanitation District treatment plants.

Notable people

* Eddie Butler, professional baseball player *

Clarence Clemons Clarence Anicholas Clemons Jr. (January 11, 1942 – June 18, 2011), also known as The Big Man, was an American saxophonist. From 1972 until his death in 2011, he was the saxophonist for Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band. Clemons rel ...

, musician *

Michael Cuddyer Michael Brent Cuddyer (; born March 27, 1979) is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played for 15 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Colorado Rockies, and New York Mets. He batted and threw right ...

, professional baseball player *

Kenny Easley Kenneth Mason Easley Jr. (born January 15, 1959) is an American former professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons from 1981 to 1987. He played college football for the UCLA Bruins and w ...

, member of NFL Hall of Fame *

Randy Forbes James Randy Forbes (born February 17, 1952) is an American politician. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he was the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for , serving from 2001 to 2017. P ...

, former U.S. Representative * DeAngelo Hall, professional football player *

Percy Harvin William Percival Harvin III (born May 28, 1988) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Florida Gators, who won the BCS National Champ ...

, professional football player *

Frank Hassell Franklin Hassell (born October 9, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for Mineros de Zacatecas (basketball), Mineros de Zacatecas of the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional, Mexican League. Standing at , he plays as a power for ...

(born 1988), basketball player *

Grant Holloway Stanley Grant Holloway (born November 19, 1997) is an American professional Hurdling, hurdler and Sprint (running), sprinter. He is a Athletics at the 2024 Summer Olympics, 2024 Paris Olympic gold medalist in the 110 metres hurdles, 110 meters ...

, 110 m hurdle world champion * Patrick Jones II, professional football player * Nick Leitz,

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

driver * Ashton Lewis Jr.,

driver *

Mizkif Mizkif, also known as Matthew Rinaudo, is an American Twitch (service), Twitch Online streamer, streamer and YouTuber. He is a founding member and co-owner of the gaming organization One True King. He was named Best Just Chatting Streamer at the ...

Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle c ...

streamer *

Alonzo Mourning Alonzo Harding Mourning Jr. (born February 8, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player who has served as vice president of player programs and development for the Miami Heat since June 2009. Mourning played most of his 15-year ...

, professional basketball player *

Omos Tolulope "Jordan" Omogbehin (born May 16, 1992) is a Nigerian professional wrestler and former college basketball player. He is currently signed to WWE as a free agent, where he performs under the ring name Omos. He is a former one-time Raw T ...

, former college basketball player, professional wrestler for

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

* Darren Perry, professional NFL football player and NFL professional coach *

Jay Pharoah Jared Antonio Farrow (born October 14, 1987), better known by his stage name Jay Pharoah, is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2010 to 2016. In 2015, he was ...

, comedian *

Chris Richardson Christopher Michael Richardson (born February 19, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter who was the fifth-place finalist on the sixth season of ''American Idol''. Personal life Richardson was born in Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe ...

, singer *

Ricky Rudd Richard Lee Rudd (born September 12, 1956), nicknamed "the Rooster", is an American former racing driver and racing team owner. He is the uncle of actor Skeet Ulrich and former NASCAR Busch Series driver Jason Rudd. He retired in 2007 with 23 ...

driver * Mike Scott, professional basketball player * Don Shipley, retired Navy Seal and YouTube star * Scott Sizemore, professional baseball player * Ben Smith, 2015 CrossFit games champion * Cam Thomas, professional basketball player *

Darryl Tapp Darryl Anthony Tapp (born September 13, 1984) is an American professional football coach and former defensive end who is the defensive line coach for the Washington Commanders. He played college football for the Virginia Tech Hokies and was sele ...

, professional football player *

Justin Upton Justin Irvin Upton (born August 25, 1987) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. Nicknamed "J-Up", he played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres, Detroit Tigers, Los Angel ...

, professional baseball player * Melvin Upton Jr., professional baseball player *

Brianté Weber Brianté Weber (born December 29, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for Dinamo Sassari of the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). He played college basketball for the VCU Rams. High school career Weber attended Great Bridge High Scho ...

(born 1992), basketball player in the

Israeli Basketball Premier League Ligat HaAl (, lit., ''Supreme League or Premier League''), or the Israeli Basketball Premier League, is a professional basketball league in Israel and the highest level of basketball in the country. The league's name is abbreviated as either BSL ...

David Wright David Allen Wright (born December 20, 1982) is an American former professional baseball third baseman who spent his entire 14-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the New York Mets. Chosen by the Mets in the 2001 Major League Baseball dr ...

, professional baseball player

In popular culture

In 2015, in honor of the game's 80th birthday,

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment holding company founded on December 6, 1923 by Henry, Hillel and Herma ...

held an online vote in order to determine which cities would make it into an updated version of the

Monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek and ) is a market in which one person or company is the only supplier of a particular good or service. A monopoly is characterized by a lack of economic Competition (economics), competition to produce ...

Here and Now: The US Edition of the game. Chesapeake, Virginia won the wildcard round, earning it a brown spot.

References

External links

Chesapeake Conventions and Tourism

City of Chesapeake

Chesapeake Public Schools

Chesapeake Economic Development
- serving Chesapeake Businesses {{authority control 1963 establishments in Virginia Populated places established in 1963 Cities in Virginia Populated places in Hampton Roads