Local History Timeline
Pre 1585
1585-1586
1607
1637
1639
1643
1650
1650
1651
1651
1671
1689
1690
1691
1692
1695
1696
1699
1699
1700
1706
1706
1716
1715
1725
1726
1735
1736
1742
1751
1754
1759
1764
1775
1775
1776
1777
1778
1783
1784
1789
1790
1792
1800
1810
1814
1822
1826
1830s
1840s
1846
1852
1854
1959
1860
1861
1874
1877
1878
1879
1879-1881
1881
1888
1888
1895
1899
1899
1900
1904
1905
1906
1907
1912
1913
1917
1919
1919
1921
1923
1925
1926
1927
1928
1930
1933
1937
1938
1937
1948
1952
1954
1954
1956
1958
1961
1961
1962
1962
1962
1962
1963
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1973
1981
1984
1986
1988
1988
1995
1995
2000
2003
Chesepioc Native American Settlement near Great Neck point, Skicoac settlement at Norfolk.
Scientist Thomas Harriot and artist John White were sent from Roanoke Island to the Chesapeake Bay
to explore the New World, the first Englishmen to set foot in this part of Virginia.
The first Landing at Cape Henry – April 26.
Lower Norfolk: Henry Woodhouse Land Grant on Great Neck Point.
The first Lynnhaven Parish church was built, Church Point.
Capt. Adam Thoroughgood received land patent that would later become Bayville Farms.
William Moseley Senior builds “Rolleston”.
The James Kempe family established Kempe's Landing, present day Kempsville.
Isaac Murray wan his three sons had a prosperous flax lgrowing and processing business
The first courthouse built was built, eastern shore of Lynnhaven River.
The first Eastern Shore Chapel was built, Ye Dudlies, AKA the Adam Keeling House.
King, Queen, Norfolk and Princess Anne Counties were created.
The second Lynnhaven Parish Church was built, “Old Donation”.
The first Princess Anne County courthouse was built.
The second courthouse was built, adjacent to “Old Donation”.
Lynnhaven Bay terrorized by the pirate ship Alexander and the next year by the pirate ship Pa Paix.
The Thoroughgood house was built.
John Ackiss settled and farmed in the area that would later become Birdneck Point.
Grace Sherwood tried for witchcraft. - July 10.
The Old Donation church Paten was donated by Maximillion Bousch.
A goblet (1712) and flagon(1716) were given to Old Donation Church as part of Queen Anne's bounty.
The second Lynnhaven Parish church was turned into a school. Gilbert Holloday as headmaster.
The second Eastern Shore chapel was built.
The third courthouse was built, Ferry Plantation.
The third Lynnhaven Parish Church, Witchduck Road was built.
The fourth courthouse built, Newtown.
The Lynnhaven house built
The third Eastern Shore chapel was built.
The Upper Wolfsnare house was built by Thomas Walke III.
The Pembroke Manor house was built.
Skirmish at Kempsville – Revolutionary War – First southern casualty of the Revolution.
Lord Dunmore's redcoats invaded Princess Anne County.
The Battle of Kemp's Landing was fought
Pleasant Hall was built.
The fifth courthouse was built, Kempsville was built.
The Eastern Shore Baptist church established (later known as London Bridge Baptist).
Kempsville was incorporated as a town.
The Charity Methodist church is established in Back Bay.
The Nimmo United Methodist church. Steeple Added 1890s, addition 1950s.
The brick lighthouse was erected at Cape Henry. First lighthouse built with Federal funds.
Marshall Parks established the Seaside Hotel and Land Company.
The Francis Land house was built.
The Bell house was built.
The Kempsville Baptist Church was established as the fourth oldest Baptist Church in PA County.
The sixth (and present) courthouse was built, Princess Anne Municipal Center.
The Bayville Farms Manor house was built.
The Ferry Farm Plantation was rebuilt.
The Church Point Manor house was built.
The Blossom Hill School was built in Creeds. First in PA County under the Virginia Free Schools Act.
St. John’s Baptist Church. Renovated twice, wings added 1950s.
The first Agricultural Society fair was held at Kempsville.
The Ebenezer Baptist Church. Oldest African American church Virginia Beach.
The Blackwater Baptist Church. Additions mid 1900s.
Union Forces used the Eastern Shore Chapel as a stable for their horses and occupied PA County a year later.
The Cape Henry Life Saving Station #1 was built
Marshall Parks established the Seaside Hotel and Land Company
The Seatack Life Saving Station #2 was built.
The Sandbridge Gunning Club was formed.
Three Life Saving Stations were built: Dam Neck Mills #3, Little Island #4, False Cape #5.
A cast iron lighthouse was erected at Cape Henry (the largest of it's kind in the country).
Old Donation Church burned.
The first wooden boardwalk was built.
More than 1,500 acres of strawberries were raised in Princess Anne County.
Lynnhaven oysters reached their peak population.
More than 1,500 acres of strawberries were raised in Princess Anne County.
Cooke School was opened as the first public school in the attic of the Driftwood Cottage.
The first Public Library was opened in B. P. Holland's store on 7th Street.
The Town of Virginia Beach was incorporated.
A town hall was built to house a school, jail, and volunter fire department.
James M. Jordan became the first man to ride a surfboard on the east coast.
Construction began on the Kempsville Amish church house.
Fort Story, named for John P. Story, an artillery expert, was opened Called the "American Gilbraltar".
C.J. Burroughs founded Bayville Farms.
The Skinner School for African American children opened near the present-day entrance to Thouroughgood.
Cotton acreage in the county increased from 2,188 acres between 1919 and 1929.
Two of Virginia Beach's restaurants, Tandom's Pine Tree Inn and Hurd's began as oyster houses
The first fire station was built at the corner of 25th Street and Pacific Avenue.
The London Bridge Baptist church forms "Purity Squad" to track down bootleggers.
The Cavalier Hotel was opened.
The Association for Research and Enlightenment was formed
Atlantic University is established.
Ocean Breeze Beach opened for African Americans on Lake Joyce.
The Yoder Dairy opened in PA County on Kempsville Road.
Robert E. W. Sparrow became Princess Anne County's first black policeman.
The PA County Training School was erected as the first high school for black students.
Virginia Beach Hospital opened at 25th Street and Atlantic Avenue.
Virginia Beach was incorporated as a city.
The fourth Eastern Shore chapel was built.
Princess Anne High School was opened.
First Boardwalk Art Show was held.
The first shopping center in Virginia Beach opens, Aragona Shopping Center.
Formation of the Princess Anne County Historical Society.
Virginia Wesleyan Collage was chartered.
A voter referendum approved the merger of Princess Anne County and the city of Virginia Beach.
The "Ash Wednesday" Storm damaged 340 homes and over 1,000 automobiles.
The East Coast Surfing Championship was established.
A bronze replacement for the original wooden Norwegian Lady statue was dedicated.
The Virginia Beach Convention Center was renamed the Alan B. Shepard Civic Center in honor of the first American in space, who was a local resident.
Princess Anne County merges with Virginia Beach Resort to form the City of Virginia Beach. Population 84,000.
Virginia Beach beaches were integrated.
The Virginia Beach General Hospital was built and opened for patient care.
Roland E. Dorer, State Public Health Director of Rodent Control, conceived the idea for "Mount Trashmore".
The Virginia Beach/Norfolk Expressway (then Route 44, now part of I-264) was opened.
The first Neptune Festival was held
The Virginia Beach Maritime Historical Museum opened in the old Coast Guard Station.
The first Pungo Strawberry Festival was held.
The Virginia Marine Science Museum opened and would later be renamed the Virginia Aquarium.
Meyera Oberndorf, the City's first directly elected mayor, was sworn into office.
The Tidewater Veterans Memorial was built and dedicated to all U.S. war veterans.
The 25-cent toll was removed from the Virginia Beach/Norfolk Expressway.
Seashore State Park was renamed First Landing State Park.
Strange crop circles appeared in Robert W. White Jr's 70-acre wheat field.
Hurricane Isabel caused heavy damage to the fishing piers at 15th Street and Lynnhaven Inlet.