Located on the Atlantic
Ocean and Chesapeake Bay, Virginia Beach borders North Carolina and
ranks as the largest city in Virginia.
April
26th 1607 - Admiral Christopher Newport set the landing party ashore
at the present site of Virginia Beach. Three days later they erected
a cross at the landing site and conducted the first religious
ceremony of the
Church
of England in America. Fearing the area was too susceptible to
attack from the Natives and Spanish, Admiral Newport chose a small
island on the James River to establish the first permanent English
Colony in the new world, Jamestown. Fourteen years later the
colonists settled in the area that is now Virginia Beach.
Abundant
fishing and fertile soil assured the areas success but, founded in
1887, Virginia Beach developed as a resort following construction of
a hotel and a railroad linking it with Norfolk After World War I it
became an important base in the national coastal-defense system and
today is home to Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base, Oceana Naval
Air Station, and Fleet Combat Direction Systems Warfare Training
Center at Dam Neck.
Today,
with its excellent beaches and many fine hotels, it is one of the
most popular resorts on the east coast and is one of the
fastest-growing cities in the United States.
