Princess Anne County, Virginia - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Princess Anne County is a former county which was created in the British Colony of Virginia and the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

in 1691. The county was merged into the city of Virginia Beach. on January 1, 1963.

Shires, Counties

When Admiral Christopher Newport

Christopher Newport

Christopher Newport was an English seaman and privateer. He is best known as the captain of the Susan Constant, the largest of three ships which carried settlers for the Virginia Company in 1607 on the way to find the settlement at Jamestown in the Virginia Colony, which became the first permanent...

and the colonists of the Virginia Company

Virginia Company

The Virginia Company refers collectively to a pair of English joint stock companies chartered by James I on 10 April1606 with the purposes of establishing settlements on the coast of North America...

arrived in 1607, George Percy and his fellow Englishmen's 'first landing was at Cape Henry

Cape Henry

Cape Henry is a cape on the Atlantic shore of Virginia north of Virginia Beach. It is the southern boundary of the entrance to Chesapeake Bay.Across the mouth of the bay to the north is Cape Charles...

in what was to become Princess Anne County. They named the spot in honor of Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales

Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales

Henry Frederick Stuart, Prince of Wales was the elder son of King James I & VI and Anne of Denmark. His name derives from his grandfathers: Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley and Frederick II of Denmark. Prince Henry was widely seen as a bright and promising heir to his father's throne...

, the eldest son of King James I of England

James I of England

James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...

. A few days later, they travelled up the James River

James River (Virginia)

The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is long, extending to if one includes the Jackson River, the longer of its two source tributaries. The James River drains a catchment comprising . The watershed includes about 4% open water and an area with a population of 2.5 million...

and established Jamestown

Jamestown, Virginia

Jamestown was a settlement in the Colony of Virginia. Established by the Virginia Company of London as "James Fort" on May 14, 1607 , it was the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States, following several earlier failed attempts, including the Lost Colony of Roanoke...

. During the early 17th century, English settlers explored and began settling the areas adjacent to Hampton Roads. By 1610, the English colonists had established a permanent settlement in the Kecoughtan

Kecoughtan, Virginia

Kecoughtan in Virginia was originally named Kikotan , the name of the Algonquian Native Americans living there when the English colonists arrived in the Hampton Roads area in 1607....

area of what was to become Elizabeth Cittie

Elizabeth City (Virginia Company)

Elizabeth City was one of four incorporations established in the Virginia Colony in 1619 by the proprietor, the Virginia Company of London, acting in accordance with instructions issued by Sir George Yeardley, Governor.The plantations and developments were divided into four political divisions,...

(sic) in 1619. Today a part of Hampton

Hampton, Virginia

Hampton is an independent city that is not part of any county in Southeast Virginia. Its population is 137,436. As one of the seven major cities that compose the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, it is on the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula. Located on the Hampton Roads Beltway, it hosts...

, it is the oldest known continuously occupied English settlement in North America.

Adam Thoroughgood

Adam Thoroughgood

Adam Thoroughgood was a colonist and community leader in the Virginia Colony who helped settle the area of South Hampton Roads known in contemporary times as the independent city of Virginia Beach, Virginia....

was an early leader in the area which became Princess Anne County, settling along the Lynnhaven River

Lynnhaven River

The Lynnhaven River is a tidal estuary located in the independent city of Virginia Beach, Virginia, in the United States, and flows into the Chesapeake Bay west of Cape Henry at Lynnhaven Inlet, beyond which is Lynnhaven Roads. It has a small, developed watershed covering , terminating at Lynnhaven...

. In 1634, the King of England directed the formation of eight shire

Shire

A shire is a traditional term for a division of land, found in the United Kingdom and in Australia. In parts of Australia, a shire is an administrative unit, but it is not synonymous with "county" there, which is a land registration unit. Individually, or as a suffix in Scotland and in the far...

s (or counties) in the colony of Virginia. One of these was Elizabeth City Shire

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....

, which included land area on both sides of Hampton Roads

Hampton Roads

Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...

.

New Norfolk County was formed in 1636 from Elizabeth City Shire. New Norfolk County included all the area in South Hampton Roads

South Hampton Roads

South Hampton Roads is a region located in the extreme southeastern portion of Virginia in the United States, and is part of the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC MSA with a population about 1.7 million....

. Princess Anne County was named for Princess Anne of Denmark and Norway, then heir apparent to the British thrones, who later became Queen of Great Britain.

Communities in Princess Anne County

The various communities in Princess Anne County include:

Back Bay
Blossom Hill
Cape Henry
Cape Henry
Cape Henry is a cape on the Atlantic shore of Virginia north of Virginia Beach. It is the southern boundary of the entrance to Chesapeake Bay.Across the mouth of the bay to the north is Cape Charles...
Creeds
Dam Neck
Great Neck
Hilltop
Green Lakes
Little Island
London Bridge
London Bridge, Virginia
London Bridge is an unincorporated community within the independent city of Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA. It is located in the area of Great Neck Road and Virginia Beach Boulevard, where Laskin Road begins....
Lynnhaven
Lynnhaven, Virginia
Lynnhaven is one of the seven original boroughs created with the city of Virginia Beach, Virginia was formed in 1963. It is located in the in North Central portion of the city and is centered around the Lynnhaven Parkway.-Modern community:...
Kempsville
Kempsville, Virginia
Kempsville was formerly an unincorporated town which was located in Princess Anne County, Virginia. In modern times, it is a community within the urbanized portion the independent city of Virginia Beach, the largest city in Virginia.-History:...
Mapleton
Munden Point
Newtown
Newtown, Virginia
Newtown, Virginia may refer to:*Newtown, Albemarle County, Virginia*Newtown, Greene County, Virginia*Newtown, King and Queen County, Virginia*Newtown, Lancaster County, Virginia...
Oceana
Pleasant Ridge
Princess Anne
Pungo
Pungo, Virginia
Pungo is a rural community located in the southern portion of the independent city of Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA and was one of the seven original boroughs when the City of Virginia Beach was created in 1963. The area derives its name from a local Indian tribe, the Machipungo, a branch of the...
Sandbridge
Seatack
Seatack, Virginia
Seatack, Virginia was located in Princess Anne County and is now part of the Oceanfront resort strip and adjacent area of the independent city of Virginia Beach. The Seatack community of Virginia Beach includes an area inland from the resort strip along present-day Virginia Beach Boulevard. Seatack...
Thalia
Virginia Beach
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Virginia Beach is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia, on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay...
Wash Woods
Wash Woods, Virginia
Wash Woods was an unincorporated town located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean in Princess Anne County in the extreme southeastern corner of Virginia. The site of the former town is currently located within False Cape State Park in the Virginia Beach area....

Virginia Beach resort: becomes town in 1908, city in 1952

Beginning in the late 19th century, the small resort area of Virginia Beach along the Atlantic Ocean at the north eastern portion of the county's vast expanse of shoreline grew, particularly after 1888 with the arrival of rail service and electricity. It was incorporated as a town in 1906 and a city in 1952.

However, in the mid 20th century, the western borders of Princess Anne County lost territory to annexation suits by Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....

which adjoined it after annexing all of the northern portion of Norfolk County

Norfolk County, Virginia

Norfolk County was a county of the South Hampton Roads in eastern Virginia in the United States that was created in 1691. After the American Civil War, for a period of about 100 years, portions of Norfolk County were lost and the territory of the county reduced as they became parts of the separate...

Shires, Counties

Communities in Princess Anne County

Virginia Beach resort: becomes town in 1908, city in 1952

See also