"A land not to be excelled by any other what-so-ever." Sir Ralph Lane, Spring 1586 The story of Virginia Beach has so many fascinating chapters that we can barely do it justice here. To learn more about the events that have shaped our town, there are several books you can look for. One book that helped immensely in the creation of this site was: "Virginia Beach, A Pictorial History" by James M. Jordan and Frederick S. Jordan, 1973 Hale Publishing Co. Another book of immense value is "The Beach" compiled and revised by the Virginia Beach Public Library, which is currently in print and available. PLEASE NOTE: This page originally contained a description of Native American life in pre-colonial Virginia Beach, but one Native American asked that it be removed due to what he called "historical innacuracies." We feel that it is a shame not to include any information about the brave and noble people who first inhabited this land. When and if a consensus can be reached among the varying factions of Native American people regarding the pre-history of Va. Beach, we will gladly include it here.

Contrary to popular belief, John Smith was not among the first landing party in the new world. When Admiral Christopher Newport organized the 30 or so men who were to go ashore, Smith was under arrest and in chains for taking part in mutinous disturbances en route to the new world. Captain John Smith Nevertheless, the landing party came ashore in the present city of Virginia Beach on the morning of April 26th, 1607. It was springtime and as the adventurers climbed the huge sand dunes their view of the dogwood trees in full bloom, and the climbing yellow jasmines intermingled with the deep green recesses on the woodland moved 26 year old Master George Percy to write that, "Heaven and Earth never agreed better to frame a place for man's habitations than Virginia. On April 29th, the voyagers returned to the entrance of the great body of water they officially named The Chesapeake Bay, using the same name the Indians used. There they erected a cross and named the spot Cape Henry, after the popular Prince of Wales, who was only 13 at the time. They claimed all the land in the name of God and England and on the sand of Virginia Beach conducted the first religious ceremony of the Church of England in America. The First Landing Captain Newport, fearing the landing site too vulnerable to Spanish and Indian attack, moved his colonists farther inland to establish the Capital City. On May 13, 1607, he chose a small island on the James River to establish the first permanent English Colony in the new world. King James had ordered that the capital city be named in his honor, hence Jamestown was born. The Virginia Colony was settled in a haphazard fashion. It was not until 14 years after the first landing at Cape Henry that colonists settled in the area that is now Virginia Beach. The slow early growth of Virginia Beach is somewhat puzzling due to the known abundance of natural resources available then. Besides being relatively free of Indians and the supposed threat they posed, there was an unlimited supply of wildlife, the most fertile soil in the entire colony, numerous deep rivers ideal for transportation and excellent accessibility to the resources of the sea. One of the earliest residents of Virginia Beach was Adam Thoroughgood, who at age 18, had left the home of his prominent family at Kings Lynn, Norfolkshire, England, to seek adventure and fortune in the colony of Virginia. The topography reminded young Thoroughgood so much of his homeland that he gave the river and her shores the name Lynnhaven. Thoroughgood soon became the leading citizen in Lynnhaven Parish, and was an elected member of the House of Burgess, the Governors Council, and a Justice of the Court. In 1635 Captain Thoroughgood (he held a commission in the county militia) earned a land grant of 5,350 acres in colonial Virginia Beach for having persuaded 105 people to settle in Virginia. Interestingly, included in these 105 immigrants was Augustine Warner, progenitor of George Washington, and generations later Robert E. Lee. During the following year, 1636, Thouroughgood built a modest but substantial brick home for his family on the western branch of the Lynnhaven River. This house, still standing and fully restored, is believed to be the oldest surviving brick home in America. Thoroughgood died suddenly at the age of 36, but his character and ideals had been embedded in the land and people of Lynnhaven. During the ensuing years the Lynnhaven area began to flourish under the leadership of prominent families such as the Keeling, Cornicks, Woodhouses and Strattons. Because of the abundance of fish in the Chesapeake Bay area, seine hauling was one of the early profitable vocations taken up by the residents along the shores of the lynnhaven. At this stage in history the only entrance into the Lynnhaven River from the Chesapeake Bay was by way of Little Creek and was reported to be a tedious journey of three miles. It did not take the fishermen long to realize that a shorter, faster route to the bay would greatly enhance the profits of those associated with the fishing industry. Adam Keeling, whose plantation, "Ye Dudlies," was situated right at the mouth of the Lynnhaven River, organized a group of people to work out a solution for this situation. At the mouth of the Lynnhaven there was a huge sandbar about a half-mile wide, separating the River and Bay. Keeling's group dug a trench across the sandbar wide enough to permit the passage of a canoe. Almost immediately after this feat was accomplished, a severe storm out of the northeast caused unusually high tides in the Chesapeake to rush through the ditch into the Lynnhaven River. The force of the tides enlarged the ditch to the size of an inlet, and today this inlet is known as the famous Lynnhaven Inlet. more info