Virginia Beach Early History

Although the Declaration of Independence dates America back only a little over 200 years, the first three days of Virginia Beach date back to over 400 years, when settlers landed at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay and erected a cross at a spot which they named Cape Henry. This historic day was April 26th, 1607, when English travelers to the Eastern shores of what would become America stepped off the ships Discovery, Godspeed, and Susan Constant, leaving King James and England behind for a chance at a new life in the New World.

Across the Bay and a little further upriver, the settlers started the first real colony, the famous Jamestown colony, and by 1691 the first county in the area was made up of Jamestown, Cape Henry, and the surrounding land. Princess Anne County had been born, along with Lower Norfolk County. Fifty years later the County named for the daughter of King James had become so populated with colonists that merchant ships had to create the first lighthouses with bonfires to guide ships through the congested Chesapeake Bay. The first real lighthouse, the Cape Henry Lighthouse, wouldn't be built until late fall of 1792.

The Cape Henry lighthouse proved to not be enough to guide the ships safely and so many shipwrecks occurred that lifesaving stations had to be set up along the coastline to help with the rescue and treatment of stranded sailors and distressed ships. Because of this Virginia Beach has the honor of being the first home to the United States Coast Guard.

In 1883, railroads from Norfolk to Virginia Beach opened and visitors began to take day trips and weekend visits to the popular beachfront. The Princess Anne hotel opened in 1888 and became on of the most popular resort destinations in the area--it was "modern", with electric lighting and bath houses looking out over the ocean. Visitors who wanted an even more luxurious stay at Virginia Beach found it in the Cavalier Hotel, which opened in 1927. The "Queen of the Beach" still caters to seasonal beachgoers and weekend travelers, 120 years later.