Virginia's eastern coastal region is relatively flat, but as you go inland, it becomes more mountainous, with stunning scenery and rich, fertile farmland. The western portion of the state is dominated by mountains, including the Appalachians.
Virginia's history begins with the Native Americans who lived in villages along the rivers near Chesapeake Bay. They were Algonquian-speaking tribes that cultivated corn, hunted, fished, and collected an abundant array of wild shellfish and plants. But the Algonquians were not on good terms with the Iroquois-speaking peoples on the North Carolina border—the two groups were often at war.
The English Roanoke colonists (who settled in what is now North Carolina) made their first contact with the Native Americans in 1584, but it wasn't until the 1600s that European influences began to affect these groups—usually adversely. Many died of European diseases, to which they had little or no resistance.
The Roanoke colony eventually vanished. In 1607, the first settlers arrived in Jamestown, establishing a permanent English foothold on the North American continent. The new settlers took to the fertile land and temperate climate of Virginia, and, with tobacco as the primary crop, the territory flourished as a colony. It produced some of this country's greatest early patriots (Washington, Jefferson, Patrick Henry) and played a major role during the Revolutionary War. (Cornwallis surrendered to Washington at Yorktown.) Virginia became a state soon after ratification of the U.S. Constitution. In the early 1800s, Virginia began to develop some industries, and its ports grew in importance.
But much of Virginia's prosperity was built on slavery. Its dependence on the practice led it to secede from the Union, along with the other Confederate states, in 1861. (The western portion of the state opposed secession and seceded from Virginia itself, becoming West Virginia.) Over the next four years, Virginia became the primary battleground of the Civil War: More major conflicts were fought in Virginia than in any other state. Both the first engagement between standing armies (the First Battle of Manassas, or Bull Run) and the final surrender of Gen. Robert E. Lee (at Appomattox) occurred in Virginia. The state was badly battered during the long war. By the end, its major city—Richmond—was a smoking ruin.
The postwar years saw Virginia struggle back to economic and political health. And once the state regained its momentum, it came back strong. With its proximity to Washington, D.C., it has long been home to numerous government and military facilities, and its ports have made it a center for shipping and ship building. In the 20th century, factories, high-tech plants and burgeoning service industries helped make Virginia an economic powerhouse of the South.
Virginia's main attractions are historical sites, Williamsburg, Richmond, Norfolk, beaches, Alexandria, amusement parks, Charlottesville, Monticello, horses, the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive, Virginia Beach, hiking, sailing and fishing.
Most travelers will find something to enjoy in Virginia, especially those interested in U.S. history, mountain culture and beaches.
Virginia is not a state; it is a commonwealth, a term carried over from colonial times and emphasizing that it was no longer Royal Colony.
The tourism slogan "Virginia is for lovers" (introduced in 1969) was a public-relations triumph, becoming one of the most successful (and imitated) travel-promotion phrases in the U.S.
Eight American presidents were born in The Old Dominion (Virginia's nickname): George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, William Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor and Woodrow Wilson. Seven of them are buried there, as well: Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Tyler, William Howard Taft and John F. Kennedy.
In November of 1989, L. Douglas Wilder became the nation's first elected black governor. The Democrat beat white Republican Marshall Coleman by 0.5%.
Residents of Tangier Island, in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay, still speak a form of Middle English first used 300 years ago by settlers of the region. Because of the island's isolation from the rest of the colonies, the language did not evolve as it did in the rest of the region.
There are more than 100 wineries producing more than a dozen different types of wine in the state of Virginia. The state has garnered national and international recognition and now ranks among the top wine-producing states in America. Most vineyards and wineries offer public tours and tastings.
The U.S. Naval Station in Norfolk is the largest naval installation in the world. It is also home base to America's Atlantic fleet.
The Pocahontas-John Smith legend was based on events at the Jamestown colony. The facts don't quite match the Disney version, however. If Pocahontas did save John Smith's life—and there's much suspicion that Smith invented the story—she was only 12 years old at the time. Later, Pocahontas was held captive by the colonists to prevent attacks by her tribe. She eventually married an Anglo tobacco planter (not Smith), accompanied him to England and died there of tuberculosis at age 22.
The only region in America with more technology companies than northern Virginia is Silicon Valley in California.
Manassas National Battlefield Park, 25 mi/40 km west of Washington, D.C., commemorates two battles: First Manassas (the first big fight of the Civil War) in 1861 and Second Manassas in 1862—also known as the First and Second Battles of Bull Run. Both were Confederate victories. Petersburg National Battlefield Park, 25 mi/40 km south of Richmond, marks an engagement near the end of the war, when the tide had turned in favor of the Union. The loss of Petersburg after a 10-month struggle signaled the beginning of the end for the Confederacy.
Surely one of Virginia's proudest claims to fame is that it is home to the World's Oldest Smithfield Ham. First cured in 1902, the culinary curiosity now resides in the Isle of Wight Museum in Smithfield.
