Chesapeake is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 222,209. Chesapeake is included in the Virginia Beach–Norfolk–Newport News, VA–NC MSA. One of the cities in the South Hampton Roads, Chesapeake was organized in 1963 by voter referendums approving the political consolidation of the city of South Norfolk with the remnants of the former Norfolk County, which dated to 1691. Chesapeake is the second-largest city by land area in the Commonwealth of Virginia, the 17th-largest in the United States. Chesapeake is a diverse city. Extending from the rural border with North Carolina to the harbor area of Hampton Roads adjacent to the cities of Norfolk, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach, Chesapeake is located on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, it has miles of waterfront industrial and residential property. In 2011, Chesapeake was named the 21st best city in the United States by Bloomberg Businessweek. Chesapeake is home to the international Headquarters for Dollar Tree.

In 1963, the new independent city of Chesapeake was created when the former independent city of South Norfolk consolidated with Norfolk County. The consolidation was approved and the new name selected by the voters of each community by referendum, authorized by the Virginia General Assembly. Formed in 1691 in the Virginia Colony, Norfolk County had included all the area which became the towns and cities of Norfolk and South Norfolk, its area was reduced after 1871. Becoming an independent city was a method for the former county to stabilize borders with neighbors, as cities could not annex territory from each other; the small city of South Norfolk had become an incorporated town within Norfolk County in 1919, became an independent city in 1922. Its residents wanted to make a change to put their jurisdiction on a more equal footing in other aspects with the much larger cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth. In addition, by the late 1950s, although immune from annexation by the bigger cities, South Norfolk was close to losing all the county land adjoining it to the city of Norfolk in another annexation suit.

The consolidation that resulted in the city of Chesapeake was part of a wave of changes in the structure of local government in southeastern Virginia which took place between 1952 and 1975. The Chesapeake region was among the first areas settled in the state's colonial era, when settlement started from the coast. Along Chesapeake's segment of the Intracoastal Waterway, where the Great Bridge locks marks the transition between the Southern Branch Elizabeth River and the Chesapeake and Albemarle Canal, lies the site of the Battle of Great Bridge. Fought on December 9, 1775, in the early days of the American Revolutionary War, the battle resulted in the removal of Lord Dunmore and all vestiges of English Government from the Colony and Dominion of Virginia; until the late 1980s and early 1990s, much of Chesapeake was either suburban or rural, serving as a bedroom community of the adjacent cities of Norfolk and Virginia Beach with residents commuting to these locations. Beginning in the late 1980s and accelerating in the 1990s, Chesapeake saw significant growth, attracting numerous and significant industries and businesses of its own.

This explosive growth led to strains on the municipal infrastructure, ranging from intrusion of saltwater into the city's water supply to congested roads and schools. Chesapeake made national headlines in 2003 when, under a court-ordered change of venue, the community hosted the first trial of alleged Beltway sniper Lee Boyd Malvo for shootings in 2002. A jury spared him a potential death sentence. A jury in neighboring Virginia Beach convicted his older partner John Allen Muhammad and sentenced him to death for another of the attacks. Chesapeake is located at 36°46′2″N 76°17′14″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 351 square miles, of which 341 square miles is land and 10 square miles is water; the northeastern part of the Great Dismal Swamp is located in Chesapeake. Chesapeake is one of the nation in terms of land area; this poses challenges to city leaders in supporting infrastructure to serve this area. In addition, the city has many and geographically distinct communities.

City leaders are faced with conflicts between development of residential and industrial areas and preservation of virgin forest and wetlands. Within the city limits in the southwestern section is a large portion of the Great Dismal Swamp. Portsmouth, Virginia Norfolk, Virginia Virginia Beach, Virginia Currituck County, North Carolina Camden County, North Carolina Suffolk, Virginia Chesapeake consists of eight informal boroughs: South Norfolk, Hickory, Deep Creek, Great Bridge, Indian River, Western Branch. One of the boroughs, South Norfolk, used to be its own independent city; the climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Chesapeake has a humid subtropical climate, ab

Josephine Leavell Allensworth was an American musician, music teacher, activist. She co-founded Allensworth and the Women's Improvement League. Josephine Leavell was born in Trenton, Kentucky, in 1855, she married Allen Allensworth in 1877. He was an African-American Baptist minister in the United States Army, they had one named Nella. The family lived in Fort Supply and Fort William Henry Harrison in Montana. Leavell would play the organ. Allen Allensworth would retire in 1906, they founded California. While living in Allensworth, Leavell founded the Women's Improvement League, she provided the land for the founding of the Mary Dickinson Memorial Library. The founding of the library developed out of a library being approved by the Allensworth Board of Trustees; the reading room they approved was too small for the community. Leavell therefore created the property to develop larger land for a larger library; the library is named after her mother and was completed in July 1913. The building of the library cost $500.

It could hold 1,000 books. The Allensworths donated their personal book collection to the library, she was a school board member. Leavell moved away from Allensworth in 1922, after her husband was killed by a motorcyclist while in Monrovia, California. Leavell moved to California, she lived with her daughter Nella, married to Louis Blodgett. As a resident in Los Angeles, she fought for racial integration in other venues. Leavell lived in Los Angeles until she died in 1938. Allensworth is now a California State Historic Park called Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park. Bunch, Lonnie. "Josephine Leavell Allensworth." Black Women in America: A Historical Encyclopedia. Brooklyn: Carlson Publishing. Pp. 22–23

Savona railway station serves the seaport and comune of Savona, in the Liguria region, northwestern Italy. Opened in 1977, it forms part of the Genoa–Ventimiglia railway, is situated just over one quarter of the way from Genoa towards Ventimiglia, it is the western terminus of the Turin–Fossano–Savona railway. The station is managed by Rete Ferroviaria Italiana. However, the commercial area of the passenger building is managed by Centostazioni. Train services to and from the station are operated by Trenitalia; each of these companies is a subsidiary of Italy's state-owned rail company. The station is located at Piazza Aldo Moro; the present Savona railway station was built between 1959 and 1962 by architect Pier Luigi Nervi, to replace the older and more centrally located Savona Letimbro railway station. Its construction anticipated the future doubling of the Genoa-Ventimiglia railway, which at that time followed a single-track path located near the sea; the new double track line was planned to be further inland.

The completed station was opened in 1962, in the presence of President Antonio Segni. However, due to major construction delays the new double track line between Savona and Finale Ligure was not completed until 1977. Thus, for fifteen years the new station was a white elephant, used only by test trains operated to stabilize the embankment. Meanwhile, scheduled passenger trains continued to stop at the nineteenth century Letimbro station. In 2009, the passenger building underwent a radical redesign, involving the remodelling of the interior without damage to the existing structures; as at 2010, it had a modern and streamlined appearance, with a new ticket office, a shopping mall and a new entrance facing Piazza Aldo Moro. The station yard has two passing loops; the station is connected by a double-track line with the Savona Parco Doria goods yard, workshops, a locomotive depot, Savona Marittima railway station, the latter being situated within the port area. The station has about 6.2 million passenger movements each year.

The station is served by the following service: EuroCity services Marseille - Cannes - Nice - Monaco - Ventimiglia - Genoa - Milan Intercity services Ventimiglia - Savona - Genoa - La Spezia - Pisa - Livorno - Rome Intercity services Ventimiglia - Savona - Genoa - Milan Regional services Ventimiglia - Savona - Genoa - Sestri Levante - La Spezia - San Stefano di Magra History of rail transport in Italy List of railway stations in Liguria Rail transport in Italy Railway stations in Italy Media related to Savona railway station at Wikimedia Commons This article is based upon a translation of the Italian language version as at December 2010