1.
Virginia
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Virginia is a state located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, as well as in the historic Southeast. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are shaped by the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Chesapeake Bay, the capital of the Commonwealth is Richmond, Virginia Beach is the most populous city, and Fairfax County is the most populous political subdivision. The Commonwealths estimated population as of 2014 is over 8.3 million, the areas history begins with several indigenous groups, including the Powhatan. In 1607 the London Company established the Colony of Virginia as the first permanent New World English colony, slave labor and the land acquired from displaced Native American tribes each played a significant role in the colonys early politics and plantation economy. Although the Commonwealth was under one-party rule for nearly a century following Reconstruction, the Virginia General Assembly is the oldest continuous law-making body in the New World. The state government was ranked most effective by the Pew Center on the States in both 2005 and 2008 and it is unique in how it treats cities and counties equally, manages local roads, and prohibits its governors from serving consecutive terms. Virginias economy changed from agricultural to industrial during the 1960s and 1970s. Virginia has an area of 42,774.2 square miles, including 3,180.13 square miles of water. Virginias boundary with Maryland and Washington, D. C. extends to the mark of the south shore of the Potomac River. The southern border is defined as the 36° 30′ parallel north, the border with Tennessee was not settled until 1893, when their dispute was brought to the U. S. Supreme Court. The Chesapeake Bay separates the portion of the Commonwealth from the two-county peninsula of Virginias Eastern Shore. The bay was formed from the river valleys of the Susquehanna River. Many of Virginias rivers flow into the Chesapeake Bay, including the Potomac, Rappahannock, York, and James, the Tidewater is a coastal plain between the Atlantic coast and the fall line. It includes the Eastern Shore and major estuaries of Chesapeake Bay, the Piedmont is a series of sedimentary and igneous rock-based foothills east of the mountains which were formed in the Mesozoic era. The region, known for its clay soil, includes the Southwest Mountains around Charlottesville. The Blue Ridge Mountains are a province of the Appalachian Mountains with the highest points in the state. The Ridge and Valley region is west of the mountains and includes the Great Appalachian Valley, the region is carbonate rock based and includes Massanutten Mountain. The Cumberland Plateau and the Cumberland Mountains are in the southwest corner of Virginia, in this region, rivers flow northwest, with a dendritic drainage system, into the Ohio River basin
2.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
3.
U.S. state
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A U. S. state is a constituent political entity of the United States of America. There are 50 states, which are together in a union with each other. Each state holds administrative jurisdiction over a geographic territory. Due to the shared sovereignty between each state and the government, Americans are citizens of both the federal republic and of the state in which they reside. State citizenship and residency are flexible, and no government approval is required to move between states, except for persons covered by certain types of court orders. States range in population from just under 600,000 to over 39 million, four states use the term commonwealth rather than state in their full official names. States are divided into counties or county-equivalents, which may be assigned some local authority but are not sovereign. County or county-equivalent structure varies widely by state, State governments are allocated power by the people through their individual constitutions. All are grounded in principles, and each provides for a government. States possess a number of powers and rights under the United States Constitution, Constitution has been amended, and the interpretation and application of its provisions have changed. The general tendency has been toward centralization and incorporation, with the government playing a much larger role than it once did. There is a debate over states rights, which concerns the extent and nature of the states powers and sovereignty in relation to the federal government. States and their residents are represented in the federal Congress, a legislature consisting of the Senate. Each state is represented in the Senate by two senators, and is guaranteed at least one Representative in the House, members of the House are elected from single-member districts. Representatives are distributed among the states in proportion to the most recent constitutionally mandated decennial census, the Constitution grants to Congress the authority to admit new states into the Union. Since the establishment of the United States in 1776, the number of states has expanded from the original 13 to 50, alaska and Hawaii are the most recent states admitted, both in 1959. The Constitution is silent on the question of states have the power to secede from the Union. Shortly after the Civil War, the U. S. Supreme Court, in Texas v. White, as a result, while the governments of the various states share many similar features, they often vary greatly with regard to form and substance
4.
County
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A county is a geographical region of a country used for administrative or other purposes, in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French conté or cunté denoting a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count or a viscount. The modern French is comté, and its equivalents in other languages are contea, contado, comtat, condado, Grafschaft, graafschap, Gau, when the Normans conquered England, they brought the term with them. The Saxons had already established the districts became the historic counties of England. The Vikings introduced the term earl to the British Isles, thus, the Anglo-Saxons earl and earldom were taken as equivalent to the continental use of count and county under the conquering Normans, and over time the two blended and became equivalent terms. Further, the term became a synonym for the native English word scir or, in Modern English. Since a shire was a division of the kingdom, the term county evolved to designate an administrative division of states or of a national government in most other modern uses. A county may be subdivided into districts, hundreds, townships or other administrative jurisdictions within the county. A county usually, but not always, contains cities, towns, townships, villages, or other municipal corporations, Provinces in Argentina are divided into departments, except in the Buenos Aires Province, where they are called partidos. The Autonomous City of Buenos Aires is divided into communes, in the eastern states of Australia, counties are used in the administration of land titles. They do not generally correspond to a level of government, but are used in the identification of parcels of land, canadas five oldest provinces – New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec and Prince Edward Island – are divided into counties. In addition to counties, Ontario is also subdivided into districts, district municipalities, metropolitan municipalities. British Columbia, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Saskatchewan, the word county is used to translate the Chinese term xiàn. In Mainland China, governed by the Peoples Republic of China, counties are the level of local government. There are 1,464 counties in the PRC out of a total of 2,862 county-level divisions, the number of counties has remained more or less constant since the Han dynasty. The county remains one of the oldest levels of government in China, the county government was particularly important in imperial China because this was the lowest layer at which the imperial government functioned. The head of a county during imperial times was the magistrate, in older context, prefecture and district are alternative terms to refer to xiàn before the establishment of the Republic of China. The English nomenclature county was adopted following the establishment of the ROC, contrary to the typical rural location of a county in Western countries, a city in China may enclose several counties
5.
South Norfolk, Virginia
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Located a few miles south of the larger city of Norfolk along the Southern Branch Elizabeth River, South Norfolk became an incorporated town in Norfolk County in 1919. Within three years, it became an independent city, in the early 1920s, streetcars ran from Ocean View in Norfolk, to South Norfolk. There was a ferry that docked at the end of Indian River Road, the much larger independent city of Norfolk expanded rapidly into the adjacent communities after World War II. Although Virginia cities cannot annex each other, Norfolks expansion threatened South Norfolks viability as a separate community, the final straw came when Norfolk tried to annex the remaining portion of Norfolk County that bordered South Norfolk. This would have resulted in South Norfolk being completely surrounded by Norfolk, the new name was also selected through a voter referendum. They say the move siphoned tax dollars from their community and rerouted them to parts of the fledgling city. Greenbrier and Great Bridge, which were just being developed, received much of the focus, the Gateway at SoNo, the city’s first major redevelopment project generated by the city’s South Norfolk Revitalization Plan. When completed, The Gateway at SoNo, which will span 6 acres, will feature 133 condominiums and loft apartments as well as 54,000 square feet of retail and office space. Harris-Judah LLC, the builder/developer behind The Gateway at SoNo, has announced that affordable, single family homes are available in Chesapeake’s South Norfolk area, the homes, which are row-style, are located on B Street and a total of approximately 15 will be available. Chesapeake, Virginia Political subdivisions of Virginia#Boroughs Norfolk County, Virginia Former counties, cities, and towns of Virginia
6.
Norfolk County, Virginia
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Norfolk County was a county of the South Hampton Roads in eastern Virginia in the United States that was created in 1691. Although organized as a city, and one of the larger in Virginia, the latter includes a large portion of the Great Dismal Swamp and large tracts of preserved forest land. During the 17th century, shortly after establishment of the Jamestown Settlement in 1607, English settlers explored, by 1634, the English colony of Virginia consisted of eight shires or counties with a total population of approximately 5,000 inhabitants. One of these was Elizabeth City Shire, which included an area on both sides of Hampton Roads, the northern portion became Elizabeth City County in 1643. It is now incorporated into the city limits of Hampton, in 1636 the southern portion of Elizabeth City Shire became New Norfolk County by order of King Charles I of England. This area was divided again in 1637 into Upper and Lower Norfolk counties, in 1691 Lower Norfolk County was in turn divided in two to form Norfolk and Princess Anne counties to accommodate settlement. Captain Adam Thoroughgood is credited with naming Norfolk County, Thoroughgood was a prominent resident of the colony. Like so many others at that time, he had born in England. He named the new county after his home county across the Atlantic Ocean. After 1691, Norfolk County remained more or less intact for over 200 years, Portsmouth became the county seat and a major area of commerce, along with Norfolk. Smaller towns were formed at Berkley and South Norfolk, in 1871, Portsmouth and Norfolk became independent cities, a jurisdiction in Virginia, and separated from Norfolk County, though Portsmouth remained the county seat. South Norfolk became an independent city in 1919, in the following years, the county lost additional territory. The incorporated town of Berkley as well as the areas of Sewells Point, Willoughby Spit, by 1960, the entire area of Norfolk County on the east side of the Elizabeth River north of Virginia Beach Boulevard had been annexed by other jurisdictions. On other sides, West Norfolk was lost to Portsmouth, in Virginia, cities are immune from annexation by each other. In the early 1960s, the most recent attempt by the City of Norfolk to annex another portion of Norfolk County threatened to surround the tiny City of South Norfolk. That failed annexation would have threatened South Norfolks viability as an independent entity, since Norfolk County residents also feared future annexation suits, in this battle of municipalities, the residents of Norfolk County and the city of South Norfolk became allies. A strategy successfully used about 10 years earlier by Elizabeth City County, the Town of Phoebus, and the City of Hampton offered a solution
7.
Republican Party (United States)
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The Republican Party, commonly referred to as the GOP, is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, the other being its historic rival, the Democratic Party. The party is named after republicanism, the dominant value during the American Revolution and it was founded by anti-slavery activists, modernists, ex-Whigs, and ex-Free Soilers in 1854. The Republicans dominated politics nationally and in the majority of northern States for most of the period between 1860 and 1932, there have been 19 Republican presidents, the most from any one party. The Republican Partys current ideology is American conservatism, which contrasts with the Democrats more progressive platform, further, its platform involves support for free market capitalism, free enterprise, fiscal conservatism, a strong national defense, deregulation, and restrictions on labor unions. In addition to advocating for economic policies, the Republican Party is socially conservative. As of 2017, the GOP is documented as being at its strongest position politically since 1928, in addition to holding the Presidency, the Republicans control the 115th United States Congress, having majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The party also holds a majority of governorships and state legislatures, the main cause was opposition to the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which repealed the Missouri Compromise by which slavery was kept out of Kansas. The Northern Republicans saw the expansion of slavery as a great evil, the first public meeting of the general anti-Nebraska movement where the name Republican was suggested for a new anti-slavery party was held on March 20,1854, in a schoolhouse in Ripon, Wisconsin. The name was chosen to pay homage to Thomas Jeffersons Republican Party. The first official party convention was held on July 6,1854, in Jackson and it oversaw the preserving of the union, the end of slavery, and the provision of equal rights to all men in the American Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861–1877. The Republicans initial base was in the Northeast and the upper Midwest, with the realignment of parties and voters in the Third Party System, the strong run of John C. Fremont in the 1856 United States presidential election demonstrated it dominated most northern states, early Republican ideology was reflected in the 1856 slogan free labor, free land, free men, which had been coined by Salmon P. Chase, a Senator from Ohio. Free labor referred to the Republican opposition to labor and belief in independent artisans. Free land referred to Republican opposition to the system whereby slaveowners could buy up all the good farm land. The Party strove to contain the expansion of slavery, which would cause the collapse of the slave power, Lincoln, representing the fast-growing western states, won the Republican nomination in 1860 and subsequently won the presidency. The party took on the mission of preserving the Union, and destroying slavery during the American Civil War, in the election of 1864, it united with War Democrats to nominate Lincoln on the National Union Party ticket. The partys success created factionalism within the party in the 1870s and those who felt that Reconstruction had been accomplished and was continued mostly to promote the large-scale corruption tolerated by President Ulysses S. Grant ran Horace Greeley for the presidency. The Stalwarts defended Grant and the system, the Half-Breeds led by Chester A. Arthur pushed for reform of the civil service in 1883
8.
Metropolitan area
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As social, economic and political institutions have changed, metropolitan areas have become key economic and political regions. The Greater São Paulo is a term for one of the multiple definitions the large metropolitan area located in the São Paulo state in Brazil. A metropolitan area combines an urban agglomeration with zones not necessarily urban in character and these outlying zones are sometimes known as a commuter belt, and may extend well beyond the urban zone, to other political entities. For example, El Monte, California is considered part of the Los Angeles metro area in the United States, in practice, the parameters of metropolitan areas, in both official and unofficial usage, are not consistent. Population figures given for one area can vary by millions. A polycentric metropolitan area is one not connected by continuous development or conurbation, in defining a metropolitan area, it is sufficient that a city or cities form a nucleus that other areas have a high degree of integration with. The Australian Bureau of Statistics defines statistical divisions as areas under the influence of one or more major towns or a major city. However, this definition has become obsolete with the conurbation of several statistical divisions into a larger metropolitan areas. In Brazil, metropolitan areas are called metropolitan regions, each State defines its own legislation for the creation, definition and organization of a metropolitan region. The creation of a region is not intended for any statistical purpose, although the Brazilian Institute of Geography. Their main purpose is to allow for a management of public policies of common interest to all cities involved. They dont have political, electoral or jurisdictional power whatsoever, so living in a metropolitan region do not elect representatives for them. Statistics Canada defines a metropolitan area as an area consisting of one or more adjacent municipalities situated around a major urban core. To form a CMA, the area must have a population of at least 100,000. To be included in the CMA, adjacent municipalities must have a degree of integration with the core. As of the Canada 2011 Census, there were 33 CMAs in Canada, including six with a population over one million—Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton. In Denmark the only area is Greater Copenhagen, consisting of the Capital Region of Denmark along with the neighboring regions Region Zealand. Greater Copenhagen has an population of 1.25 million people
9.
Eastern Time Zone
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Places that use Eastern Standard Time when observing standard time are 5 hours behind Coordinated Universal Time. Eastern Daylight Time, when observing daylight saving time DST is 4 hours behind Coordinated Universal Time, in the northern parts of the time zone, on the second Sunday in March, at 2,00 a. m. EST, clocks are advanced to 3,00 a. m. EDT leaving a one-hour gap, on the first Sunday in November, at 2,00 a. m. EDT, clocks are moved back to 1,00 a. m, southern parts of the zone do not observe daylight saving time. The Uniform Time Act of 1966 ruled that daylight saving time would run from the last Sunday of April until the last Sunday in October in the United States, the act was amended to make the first Sunday in April the beginning of daylight saving time as of 1987. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 extended daylight saving time in the United States beginning in 2007. So local times change at 2,00 a. m. EST to 3,00 a. m. EDT on the second Sunday in March, in Canada, the time changes as it does in the United States. However, a handful of communities unofficially observe Eastern Time because they are part of the Columbus, Georgia metropolitan area – Phenix City, Smiths Station, Lanett, and Valley. Florida, All of Florida is in the Eastern Time zone except for the portion of the Florida Panhandle west of the Apalachicola River, as the Eastern–Central zone boundary approaches the Gulf of Mexico, it follows the Bay/Gulf county line. Indiana, All of Indiana observes Eastern Time except for six counties in the Chicago metropolitan area. Kentucky, Roughly, the half of the state, including all of metropolitan Louisville, is in the Eastern Time Zone. Historically the entire state observed Central Time, when daylight saving time was first introduced, the Lower Peninsula remained on DST after it formally ended, effectively re-aligning itself into the Eastern Time Zone. The Upper Peninsula continued to observe Central Time until 1972, when all, Tennessee, Most of the eastern third of Tennessee is legally on Eastern Time. Eastern Time is also used somewhat as a de facto official time for all of the United States, since it includes the capital and the largest city. Major professional sports leagues also post all game times in Eastern time, for example, a game time between two teams from Pacific Time Zone will still be posted in Eastern time. Most cable television and national broadcast networks advertise airing times in Eastern time, national broadcast networks generally have two primary feeds, an eastern feed for Eastern and Central time zones, and a tape-delayed western feed for the Pacific Time Zone. The prime time is set on Eastern and Pacific at 8,00 p. m. with the Central time zone stations receiving the eastern feed at 7,00 p. m. local time. Mountain Time Zone stations receive a separate feed at 7,00 p. m. local time, as Arizona does not observe daylight saving time, during the summer months, it has its own feed at 7,00 p. m. local time
10.
UTC-5
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UTC−05,00 is a time offset that subtracts five hours from Coordinated Universal Time. In North America, it is observed in the Eastern Time Zone during standard time, the western Caribbean uses it year round. The southwestern and northwestern portions of Indiana Mexico – Central Zone Central, in most of Mexico, daylight time starts a few weeks after the United States. Communities on the U. S. border that observe Central Time follow the U. S. daylight time schedule
11.
Daylight saving time
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Daylight saving time is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months by one hour so that evening daylight lasts an hour longer, while sacrificing normal sunrise times. Typically, regions that use Daylight Savings Time adjust clocks forward one hour close to the start of spring, American inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin proposed a form of daylight time in 1784. New Zealander George Hudson proposed the idea of saving in 1895. The German Empire and Austria-Hungary organized the first nationwide implementation, starting on April 30,1916, many countries have used it at various times since then, particularly since the energy crisis of the 1970s. The practice has both advocates and critics, DST clock shifts sometimes complicate timekeeping and can disrupt travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns. Computer software often adjusts clocks automatically, but policy changes by various jurisdictions of DST dates, industrialized societies generally follow a clock-based schedule for daily activities that do not change throughout the course of the year. The time of day that individuals begin and end work or school, North and south of the tropics daylight lasts longer in summer and shorter in winter, with the effect becoming greater as one moves away from the tropics. However, they will have one hour of daylight at the start of each day. Supporters have also argued that DST decreases energy consumption by reducing the need for lighting and heating, DST is also of little use for locations near the equator, because these regions see only a small variation in daylight in the course of the year. After ancient times, equal-length civil hours eventually supplanted unequal, so civil time no longer varies by season, unequal hours are still used in a few traditional settings, such as some monasteries of Mount Athos and all Jewish ceremonies. This 1784 satire proposed taxing window shutters, rationing candles, and waking the public by ringing church bells, despite common misconception, Franklin did not actually propose DST, 18th-century Europe did not even keep precise schedules. However, this changed as rail transport and communication networks came to require a standardization of time unknown in Franklins day. Modern DST was first proposed by the New Zealand entomologist George Hudson, whose shift work job gave him time to collect insects. An avid golfer, he also disliked cutting short his round at dusk and his solution was to advance the clock during the summer months, a proposal he published two years later. The proposal was taken up by the Liberal Member of Parliament Robert Pearce, a select committee was set up to examine the issue, but Pearces bill did not become law, and several other bills failed in the following years. Willett lobbied for the proposal in the UK until his death in 1915, william Sword Frost, mayor of Orillia, Ontario, introduced daylight saving time in the municipality during his tenure from 1911 to 1912. Starting on April 30,1916, the German Empire and its World War I ally Austria-Hungary were the first to use DST as a way to conserve coal during wartime, Britain, most of its allies, and many European neutrals soon followed suit. Russia and a few other countries waited until the year
12.
ZIP Code
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ZIP Codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, was chosen to suggest that the travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly. The basic format consists of five numerical digits, an extended ZIP+4 code, introduced in 1983, includes the five digits of the ZIP Code, a hyphen, and four additional digits that determine a more specific location within a given ZIP Code. The term ZIP Code was originally registered as a servicemark by the U. S. Postal Service, USPS style for ZIP is all caps and the c in code is also capitalized, although style sheets for some publications use sentence case or lowercase. The early history and context of postal codes began with postal district/zone numbers, the United States Post Office Department implemented postal zones for numerous large cities in 1943. For example, Mr. John Smith 3256 Epiphenomenal Avenue Minneapolis 16, by the early 1960s a more organized system was needed, and on July 1,1963, non-mandatory five-digit ZIP Codes were introduced nationwide. Three months later, on October 1,1963, the U. S, an earlier list in June had proposed capitalized abbreviations ranging from two to five letters. The abbreviations have remained unchanged, with one exception, according to the historian of the U. S. Robert Moon, an employee of the post office, is considered the father of the ZIP Code, he submitted his proposal in 1944 while working as a postal inspector. The post office gives credit to Moon only for the first three digits of the ZIP Code, which describe the sectional center facility or sec center, an SCF is a central mail processing facility with those three digits. The SCF sorts mail to all post offices with those first three digits in their ZIP Codes, the mail is sorted according to the final two digits of the ZIP Code and sent to the corresponding post offices in the early morning. Sectional centers do not deliver mail and are not open to the public, Mail picked up at post offices is sent to their own SCF in the afternoon, where the mail is sorted overnight. The United States Post Office used a character, which it called Mr. ZIP. He was often depicted with a such as USE ZIP CODE in the selvage of panes of stamps or on labels contained in, or the covers of. In 1983, the U. S. Postal Service introduced an expanded ZIP Code system that it called ZIP+4, often called plus-four codes, add-on codes, or add ons. But initial attempts to promote use of the new format met with public resistance. For Post Office Boxes, the rule is that each box has its own ZIP+4 code. However, there is no rule, so the ZIP+4 Code must be looked up individually for each box. It is common to use add-on code 9998 for mail addressed to the postmaster,9999 for general delivery, for a unique ZIP Code, the add-on code is typically 0001
13.
Area code 757
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The North American telephone area code 757 is a NANPA telephone area code covering the southeast corner of Virginia. It was established July 1,1996, as a split from area code 804, the Eastern Shore of Virginia, the Virginia portion of the Delmarva Peninsula. Before the implementation of number pooling,757 was projected to run out of numbers as early as 2002, List of Virginia area codes List of NANP area codes North American Numbering Plan NANPA Area Code Map of Virginia
14.
Geographic Names Information System
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It is a type of gazetteer. GNIS was developed by the United States Geological Survey in cooperation with the United States Board on Geographic Names to promote the standardization of feature names, the database is part of a system that includes topographic map names and bibliographic references. The names of books and historic maps that confirm the feature or place name are cited, variant names, alternatives to official federal names for a feature, are also recorded. Each feature receives a permanent, unique feature record identifier, sometimes called the GNIS identifier, the database never removes an entry, except in cases of obvious duplication. The GNIS accepts proposals for new or changed names for U. S. geographical features, the general public can make proposals at the GNIS web site and can review the justifications and supporters of the proposals. The Bureau of the Census defines Census Designated Places as a subset of locations in the National Geographic Names Database, U. S. Postal Service Publication 28 gives standards for addressing mail. In this publication, the postal service defines two-letter state abbreviations, street identifiers such as boulevard and street, department of the Interior, U. S. Geological Survey, National Mapping Division, Digital Gazeteer, Users Manual. Least Heat Moon, William, Blue Highways, A Journey Into America, standard was withdrawn in September 2008, See Federal Register Notice, Vol.73, No. 170, page 51276 Report, Principles, Policies, and Procedures, Domestic Geographic Names, U. S. Postal Service Publication 28, November 2000. Board on Geographic Names website Geographic Names Information System Proposals from the general public Meeting minutes
15.
Commonwealth (U.S. state)
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Each was, prior to 1776, a British colony, or parts thereof, and share a strong influence of English common law in some of their laws and institutions. The term Commonwealth does not describe or provide for any specific political status or legal relationship when used by a state and those that do use it are equal to those that do not. It refers to the common weal, or welfare, of the public and is derived from a translation of the Latin term res publica. Besides the four aforementioned states, other states may also, on occasion, vermont, for instance, uses the term commonwealth three times in its constitution, interchangeably with the term state. Also, while Delaware was primarily referred to as a State in its 1776 constitution, two U. S. territories are also designated as commonwealths, Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands. When used in connection with areas under U. S, on June 1,1792, Kentucky County officially became a state. Kentucky is the state outside of the first 13 that uses commonwealth in its name. Massachusetts is officially named The Commonwealth of Massachusetts by its constitution, the name State of Massachusetts Bay was used in all acts and resolves up to 1780 and the first draft of the constitution. The current name can be traced to the draft of the state constitution. In Massachusetts, the term State is occasionally used in an official manner and this is evident in the name of the agency Massachusetts State Police, the Massachusetts State House and in Bridgewater State Hospital. The Seal of Pennsylvania does not use the term, but legal processes are in the name of the Commonwealth and it is a traditional official designation used in referring to the state. In 1776, Pennsylvanias first state constitution referred to it as both Commonwealth and State, a pattern of usage that was perpetuated in the constitutions of 1790,1838,1874 and 1958, one of Pennsylvanias two intermediate appellate courts is called the Commonwealth Court. A detailed history describing the origins of Pennsylvanias government, including its designation as a commonwealth from colonial times, is available from the Secretary of the Commonwealths office, the name Commonwealth of Virginia dates back to its independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. Virginias first constitution directed that Commissions and Grants shall run, In the Name of the commonwealth of Virginia, the Secretary of the Commonwealth still issues commissions in this manner. Among other references, the constitution furthermore dictated that criminal indictments were to conclude against the peace, in Virginia, the term State is occasionally used in an official manner, but usually in a compound structure rather than as a stand-alone noun. This is evident in the name of the agency Virginia State Corporation Commission and in Virginia State Police, the state university in Richmond is known as Virginia Commonwealth University. In Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, state-level criminal prosecutions are brought in the name of the Commonwealth, in California, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, and New York, they are brought in the name of the People
16.
2010 United States Census
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The 2010 United States Census, is the twenty-third and currently most recent United States national census. National Census Day, the day used for the census, was April 1,2010. As part of a drive to increase the accuracy,635,000 temporary enumerators were hired. The population of the United States was counted as 308,745,538, as required by the United States Constitution, the U. S. census has been conducted every 10 years since 1790. The 2000 U. S. Census was the previous census completed, participation in the U. S. Census is required by law in Title 13 of the United States Code. On January 25,2010, Census Bureau Director Robert Groves personally inaugurated the 2010 Census enumeration by counting World War II veteran Clifton Jackson, more than 120 million census forms were delivered by the U. S. Post Office beginning March 15,2010, the number of forms mailed out or hand-delivered by the Census Bureau was approximately 134 million on April 1,2010. The 2010 Census national mail participation rate was 74%, from April through July 2010, census takers visited households that did not return a form, an operation called non-response follow-up. In December 2010, the Census Bureau delivered population information to the president for apportionment, personally identifiable information will be available in 2082. The Census Bureau did not use a form for the 2010 Census. In several previous censuses, one in six households received this long form, the 2010 Census used only a short form asking ten basic questions, How many people were living or staying in this house, apartment, or mobile home on April 1,2010. Were there any additional people staying here on April 1,2010 that you did not include in Question 1, mark all that apply, Is this house, apartment, or mobile home – What is your telephone number. What is Person 1s age and Person 1s date of birth, is Person 1 of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin. Does Person 1 sometimes live or stay somewhere else, the form included space to repeat some or all of these questions for up to twelve residents total. In contrast to the 2000 census, an Internet response option was not offered, detailed socioeconomic information collected during past censuses will continue to be collected through the American Community Survey. The survey provides data about communities in the United States on a 1-year or 3-year cycle, depending on the size of the community, rather than once every 10 years. A small percentage of the population on a basis will receive the survey each year. In June 2009, the U. S. Census Bureau announced that it would count same-sex married couples, however, the final form did not contain a separate same-sex married couple option
17.
Hampton Roads
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Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in Virginia and the surrounding metropolitan region in Southeastern Virginia and Northeastern North Carolina, United States. The body of known as Hampton Roads is one of the worlds largest natural harbors. It incorporates the mouths of the Elizabeth River, Nansemond River, the land area includes a collection of cities, counties and towns on the Virginia Peninsula and in South Hampton Roads. Some of the areas further from the harbor may or may not be included as part of Hampton Roads. The Combined Statistical Area includes four counties in North Carolina, pushing the regional population to over 1.8 million residents. The area is steeped in 400 years of American history, with hundreds of historical sites, the harbor was the key to Hampton Roads growth, both on land and in water-related activities and events. While the harbor and its tributaries were important transportation conduits, at the time they presented obstacles to land-based commerce. Creating and maintaining adequate infrastructure has long been a major challenge, the term Hampton Roads is a centuries-old designation that originated when the region was a struggling English outpost nearly four hundred years ago. The origin of the two words is noteworthy, the word Hampton honors one of the founders of the Virginia Company of London and a great supporter of the colonization of Virginia, Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton. The early administrative center of the new colony was known as Elizabeth Cittie, named for Princess Elizabeth, the daughter of King James I, the town at the center of Elizabeth Cittie became known as Hampton, and a nearby waterway was designated Hampton Creek. Other references to the Earl include the area to the north across the bay became known as Northampton. As with Hampton, both of these remain in use today. The term Roads indicates the safety of a port, as applied to a body of water, examples of other roadsteads are Castle Roads, in another of the Virginia Companys settlements, Bermuda, and Lahaina Roads, in Hawaii. In 1755, the Virginia General Assembly recorded the name Hampton Roads as the channel linking the James, Elizabeth, and Nansemond rivers with the Chesapeake Bay. Hampton Roads has become known as the worlds largest natural harbor, the U. S. Postal Service changed the areas postmark from Tidewater Virginia to Hampton Roads, Virginia beginning in 1983. While the borders of what locals call Hampton Roads may not perfectly align with the definition of the MSA, Virginia Beach–Norfolk–Newport News, VA–NC MSA is a U. S. According to the 2010 Census, its population is 1,676,822, since a state constitutional change in 1871, all cities in Virginia are independent cities and they are not legally located in a county. The OMB considers these independent cities to be county-equivalents for the purpose of defining MSAs in Virginia, each MSA is listed by its counties, then cities, in alphabetical order and not by size
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South Hampton Roads
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South Hampton Roads is a region located in the extreme southeastern portion of Virginia in the United States with a total population of 1,191,937. It is part of the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC MSA, Hampton Roads is the common name for the metropolitan area that surrounds the body of water of the same name. The land portion of Hampton Roads has been divided into two regions, South Hampton Roads on the south side, and the Virginia Peninsula on the north side. As of the 2010 Census, the Hampton Roads MSA is the fifth largest metropolitan area by size in the southeastern United States, South Hampton Roads is home to several United States military bases. Norfolk Naval Shipyard is located in Portsmouth, as are the Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth, the shipyard was founded as the Gosport Shipyard on November 1,1767, and has the countrys first dry dock. The name was changed after the American Civil War, across the Elizabeth River, at Sewells Point near the mouth of Hampton Roads is the Norfolk Navy Base, the central hub of the United States Navys Atlantic Fleet. The base was founded in 1917, and is now the largest naval facility in the world, Virginia Beach is home to the U. S. Navys Naval Air Station Oceana and Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek. NAS Oceana is the largest employer in Virginia Beach, and both bases there, like the Norfolk Navy Base, are considered to be the largest of their kinds in the world. Furthermore, adjacent to Oceana is NAVSEA Dam Neck, Virginia Beach is also the home of Joint Expeditionary Base East, operated by the United States Navy, which is located at Cape Henry. St. Juliens Creek Annex is a U. S. Navy facility in Chesapeake on the Southern Branch Elizabeth River and it began operations in 1849 and occupies approximately 490 acres, including 407 acres of land,14 acres of marsh, and 69 acres of surface water. It is currently considered part of the Norfolk Navy Base, Chesapeake is also home to U. S. Naval Auxiliary Landing Field Fentress, an auxiliary landing facility for NAS Oceana. The decision to call the region Hampton Roads was a political one, the area was referred to as Tidewater for many years by the local residents. The local baseball team was called the Tidewater Tides for years but is now called the Norfolk Tides, when they first came to Tidewater, they adopted the local name to draw more fans. Some towns grew to become cities, under the state constitutional changes in 1871, extant and future cities in Virginia became independent cities of the counties they had formerly been located within. However, in the half of the 20th century, an unprecedented wave of city-county-town local government consolidations took place in South Hampton Roads. Nowhere else in Virginia have rural areas and more dense cities been combined in such a manner as these two areas, the changes resulted in the area having Virginias cities with the largest land areas and the most farming, even over 30 years after the consolidations in some instances. The South Hampton Roads region includes five independent cities, three counties, and five incorporated towns with a population of 1,191,937 people. There were also a number of subdivisions which are now extinct, primarily due to growth
19.
Wetland
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A wetland is a land area that is saturated with water, either permanently or seasonally, such that it takes on the characteristics of a distinct ecosystem. The primary factor that distinguishes wetlands from other forms or water bodies is the characteristic vegetation of aquatic plants. Wetlands play a number of roles in the environment, principally water purification, flood control, carbon sink, Wetlands are also considered the most biologically diverse of all ecosystems, serving as home to a wide range of plant and animal life. Wetlands occur naturally on every continent except Antarctica, the largest including the Amazon River basin, the West Siberian Plain, the water found in wetlands can be freshwater, brackish, or saltwater. The main wetland types include swamps, marshes, bogs, and fens, and sub-types include mangrove, carr, pocosin, the UN Millennium Ecosystem Assessment determined that environmental degradation is more prominent within wetland systems than any other ecosystem on Earth. International conservation efforts are being used in conjunction with the development of rapid assessment tools to people about wetland issues. Constructed wetlands can be used to treat municipal and industrial wastewater as well as stormwater runoff and they may also play a role in water-sensitive urban design. A patch of land that develops pools of water after a storm would not be considered a wetland. Wetlands have unique characteristics, they are distinguished from other water bodies or landforms based on their water level. Specifically, wetlands are characterized as having a table that stands at or near the land surface for a long enough period each year to support aquatic plants. A more concise definition is a community composed of hydric soil, Wetlands have also been described as ecotones, providing a transition between dry land and water bodies. In environmental decision-making, there are subsets of definitions that are agreed upon to make regulatory and policy decisions. A wetland is an ecosystem that arises when inundation by water produces soils dominated by anaerobic processes, There are four main kinds of wetlands – marsh, swamp, bog and fen. Some experts also recognize wet meadows and aquatic ecosystems as additional wetland types, the largest wetlands in the world include the swamp forests of the Amazon and the peatlands of Siberia. Under the Ramsar international wetland conservation treaty, wetlands are defined as follows, Article 2.1, may incorporate riparian and coastal zones adjacent to the wetlands, and islands or bodies of marine water deeper than six metres at low tide lying within the wetlands. Although the general definition given above applies around the world, each county, Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs and similar areas. This definition has been used in the enforcement of the Clean Water Act, some US states, such as Massachusetts and New York, have separate definitions that may differ from the federal governments. It is not uncommon for a wetland to be dry for long portions of the growing season, the most important factor producing wetlands is flooding
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Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge
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It is located in parts of the independent cities of Chesapeake and Suffolk in Virginia, and the counties of Camden, Gates, and Pasquotank in North Carolina. Essential to the ecosystem are its water resources, native vegetative communities. The Great Dismal Swamps ecological significance and its wealth of history and it is one of the last large wild areas remaining in the Eastern United States. The Great Dismal Swamp is in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina between the James River and the Albemarle Sound, the original swamp was estimated to be over 1,000,000 acres, however, human encroachment has destroyed up to 90% of the original swampland. Beginning in the 1660s, a community of escaped slaves known as the Great Dismal Swamp maroons lived freely within the Great Dismal Swamp. Most maroons settled in mesic islands, the high and dry parts of the swamp, maroons were not the only people who lived inside the swamp — some residents had bought their freedom, others were still slaves who lived semi-independently. In addition, some escaped slaves used the swamp as a stop on the Underground Railroad as they made their way further north, nearby whites often left the maroons alone so long as they paid a quota in logs or shingles. S. Congress through The Dismal Swamp Act of 1974, today, the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge is now just over 112,000 acres in size. In 1805, the Dismal Swamp Canal began serving as a highway for timber coming out of the swamp. Today, the continues to serve recreational boaters as part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. The refuge consists of over 112,000 acres of forested wetlands, Lake Drummond, a 3, 100-acre natural lake, is located in the heart of the swamp. Outside the boundaries of the National Refuge, the state of North Carolina has preserved and protected additional portions of the swamp. The Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge is located not only two states, but also between two eco-regions, allowing for a wide range of plant and animal species. Bald cypress, black gum, maple, Atlantic white cedar, many mammals, including black bears, bobcats, otters, and weasels along with over 70 species of reptiles and amphibians call the swamp home. More than 200 bird species can be seen at the swamp throughout the year, the peak influx of neotropical migratory songbirds, such as numerous species of warblers, is from late April to mid-May. The refuge is open daily during daylight hours, the refuge headquarters, at the western edge of the refuge, is open on weekdays, except national holidays. Visitor activities include birdwatching, photography, hiking, bicycling, boating and canoeing, fishing, camping is permitted at a campsite maintained by the Army Corp of Engineers on the feeder ditch canal close to Lake Drummond. Lake Drummond is the middle of activity in the swamp today, though, with fishermen, sightseers
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North Carolina
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North Carolina is a state in the southeastern region of the United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west, Virginia to the north, North Carolina is the 28th most extensive and the 9th most populous of the U. S. states. The state is divided into 100 counties, the most populous municipality is Charlotte, which is the second largest banking center in the United States after New York City. The state has a range of elevations, from sea level on the coast to 6,684 feet at Mount Mitchell. The climate of the plains is strongly influenced by the Atlantic Ocean. Most of the falls in the humid subtropical climate zone. More than 300 miles from the coast, the western, mountainous part of the state has a highland climate. North Carolina is bordered by South Carolina on the south, Georgia on the southwest, Tennessee on the west, Virginia on the north, the United States Census Bureau places North Carolina in the South Atlantic division of the southern region. So many ships have been lost off Cape Hatteras that the area is known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic, the most famous of these is the Queen Annes Revenge, which went aground in Beaufort Inlet in 1718. The coastal plain transitions to the Piedmont region along the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, the Piedmont region of central North Carolina is the states most populous region, containing the six largest cities in the state by population. It consists of rolling countryside frequently broken by hills or low mountain ridges. The Piedmont ranges from about 300 feet in elevation in the east to about 1,500 feet in the west, the western section of the state is part of the Appalachian Mountain range. Among the subranges of the Appalachians located in the state are the Great Smoky Mountains, Blue Ridge Mountains, the Black Mountains are the highest in the eastern United States, and culminate in Mount Mitchell at 6,684 feet, the highest point east of the Mississippi River. North Carolina has 17 major river basins, the five basins west of the Blue Ridge Mountains flow to the Gulf of Mexico, while the remainder flow to the Atlantic Ocean. Of the 17 basins,11 originate within the state of North Carolina, but only four are contained entirely within the states border – the Cape Fear, the Neuse, the White Oak, and the Tar-Pamlico basin. Elevation above sea level is most responsible for temperature change across the state, the climate is also influenced by the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf Stream, especially in the coastal plain. These influences tend to cause warmer winter temperatures along the coast, the coastal plain averages around 1 inch of snow or ice annually, and in many years, there may be no snow or ice at all. North Carolina experiences severe weather in summer and winter, with summer bringing threat of hurricanes, tropical storms, heavy rain
22.
Intracoastal Waterway
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Some sections of the waterway consist of natural inlets, saltwater rivers, bays, and sounds, while others are artificial canals. It provides a route along its length without many of the hazards of travel on the open sea. Since the coastline represented the border and commerce of the time was chiefly by water. The improvement of the natural transportation routes was a major concern for all geographic regions. These improvements were also a source of political division about where and how improvements should be developed, who should pay, in 1802, at the request of the Senate, Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin presented an overall plan for future transportation developments of national importance and scope. Marys along the coast of South Carolina and Georgia and it is unnecessary to add any comments on the utility of the work, in peace or war, for the transportation of merchandise or the conveyance of persons. Since these 1824 acts, the United States Army Corps of Engineers has responsibility for navigation waterway improvements, over time, additional portions of other coastal improvements were authorized for development, including the Houston Ship Channel and the Delaware River in 1872. While some policy corrections were implemented over the ensuing 30 years, in the River and Harbors Appropriations Acts of 1882 and 1884, Congress signaled its intent to improve waterways to benefit the nation by promoting competition among transportation modes. In 1887, the Interstate Commerce Act established federal regulation of railroads, the invention of the diesel engine in 1892 eventually led to the conversion of fuels for transportation from coal and steam to diesel and the internal combustion engine. This was greatly enhanced by World War I military uses and the beginning of a new age of fuel usage, andrews Bay, Florida, as well as a study of the most efficient means to move cargo. Between 1910 and 1914, navigation channels were deepened, and the screw propeller proved efficient for improved steering and flanking qualities, in 1936 the continuous 9 ft ×100 ft channel was completed between the Apalachicola River and New Orleans. By 1942, the 9 ft ×100 ft ICW channel was completed between New Orleans and Corpus Christi, today, federal law provides for the waterway to be maintained at a minimum depth of 12 feet for most of its length, but inadequate funding has prevented that. Consequently, for ships, shoaling or shallow waters are encountered along several sections of the waterway. While no tolls are charged for usage, commercial users have been charged a fuel tax since 1978. That year, the Inland Waterways Revenue Act imposed a fuel tax, originally set at 4 cents per gallon in 1980. The Water Resources Development Act of 1986 was a bill regarding all water resources utilization nationally. These segments were intended to be connected via a dredged waterway from St, marks to Tarpon Springs and the Cross Florida Barge Canal across northern Florida, but these projects were never completed due to environmental concerns. Additional canals and bays extend a navigable waterway to Boston, Massachusetts, the Intracoastal Waterway has a good deal of commercial activity, barges haul petroleum, petroleum products, foodstuffs, building materials, and manufactured goods
23.
Dollar Tree
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Dollar Tree, Inc. is an American chain of discount variety stores that sells items for $1 or less. Headquartered in Chesapeake, Virginia, it is a company of Fortune 500 and operates 13,600 stores throughout the 48 contiguous U. S. states. Its stores are supported by a nationwide network of eleven distribution centers. The company operates stores under the names of Dollar Tree. The company also operates multi-price-point variety chains under the names Deals, Dollar Tree competes in the dollar store and low-end retail markets. Each Dollar Tree stocks a variety of products including national, regional, most Dollar Tree stores also sell frozen foods and dairy items such as milk, eggs, pizza, ice cream, frozen dinners, and pre-made baked goods. In August 2012, the company began accepting manufacturers coupons at all of its store locations, in 1954, K. R. Perry opened a Ben Franklin variety store in Norfolk, Virginia, which later became known as K&K 5&10. Perry, Doug Perry, and Macon Brock started K&K Toys in Norfolk and this mall concept grew to over 130 stores on the East Coast. In 1986, Doug Perry, Macon Brock, and Ray Compton started another chain store called Only $1.00 with five stores, one in Georgia, one in Tennessee, the expansion of Dollar Stores was continued alongside K&K Toys stores, mostly in enclosed malls. In 1991, the made a decision to focus exclusively on the expansion of dollar stores after selling K&K stores to KB Toys. On March 6,1995, Dollar Tree, Inc. went public on the NASDAQ exchange at $15 a share, in 1996, Dollar Tree acquired Dollar Bill$, Inc. a Chicago-based chain of 136 stores. In 1997, the company opened its first distribution center and its new store support center, in 1998, Dollar Tree acquired 98-Cent Clearance Centers in California. In 1999, Dollar Tree acquired Only $One stores based in New York state and this same year, the company opened its second Distribution Center in Olive Branch, Mississippi. In 2000, Dollar Tree acquired Dollar Express, a Philadelphia-based company, in 2001, the company opened two additional distribution centers, in Savannah, Georgia, and Briar Creek, Pennsylvania. In 2003, Dollar Tree acquired Salt Lake City, Utah-based Greenbacks, Inc. and opened a new center in Marietta. In 2004, Dollar Tree opened its first store in North Dakota which marked its operation of stores in all 48 contiguous states, the company also opened new distribution centers in Joliet, Illinois, and Ridgefield, Washington. In 2006, Dollar Tree celebrated its 20th year of retailing at a $1.00 price point, opened its 3, 000th store, and acquired 138 DEAL$ stores, previously owned by SUPERVALU INC. In 2007, Dollar Tree expanded its Briar Creek Distribution Center, crossed the $4 billion sales threshold, in 2008, Dollar Tree earned a place in the Fortune 500
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History of Chesapeake, Virginia
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In 1963, the new independent city of Chesapeake was created when the former independent city of South Norfolk consolidated with Norfolk County. The consolidation, authorized by the Virginia General Assembly, was approved, the new city is part of the current region of Hampton Roads which are linked by the circumferential Hampton Roads Beltway. Becoming an independent city was a method for the county to stabilize borders with neighbors. The relatively small City of South Norfolk had become a town within Norfolk County in 1919. It was also motivated to make a change which would put it on an equal footing in other aspects with the much larger cities of Norfolk. The changes which created Chesapeake were part of a wave of changes in the structure of government in southeastern Virginia which took place between 1952 and 1976. Chesapeakes history goes far back into Virginias colonial roots, the Intracoastal Waterway passes through Chesapeake. On the waterway, at Great Bridge where the transition from the Southern Branch Elizabeth River to the Chesapeake. The Dismal Swamp Canal runs through Chesapeake as well, the site of this canal was surveyed by George Washington, among others, and is known as Washingtons Ditch. It is the oldest continuously used man made canal in the United States today and has been in service for over 230 years, the canal begins in the Deep Creek section of the city branching off from the Southern Branch Elizabeth River. The canal runs through Chesapeake paralleling U. S. Highway 17 into North Carolina and connects to Elizabeth City, beginning in the late 1980s and accelerating in the 1990s, however, Chesapeake saw significant growth, attracting numerous and significant industries and businesses of its own. This explosive growth quickly led to strains on the infrastructure, ranging from intrusion of saltwater into the citys water supply to congested roads. A jury spared him a death sentence, choosing a sentence of life in prison without parole instead for the young man. A jury in neighboring Virginia Beach sentenced his older partner John Allen Muhammad to death for another of the attacks, Norfolk County, Virginia South Norfolk, Virginia Beltway Sniper Attacks Tobacco and Slaves, The Development of Southern Cultures in the Chesapeake, 1680–1800
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Virginia General Assembly
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The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the oldest continuous law-making body in the New World, established on July 30,1619. The General Assembly is a body consisting of a lower house, the Virginia House of Delegates, with 100 members, and an upper house. Combined together, the General Assembly consists of 140 elected representatives from a number of constituent districts across the commonwealth. The House of Delegates is presided over by the Speaker of the House, the House and Senate each elect a clerk and sergeant-at-arms. The Senate of Virginias clerk is known as the Clerk of the Senate, the Republican Party currently holds the majority in both the House of Delegates and the Senate. The General Assembly meets in Virginias capital of Richmond, when sitting in Richmond, the General Assembly holds sessions in the Virginia State Capitol, designed by Thomas Jefferson in 1788 and expanded in 1904. During the American Civil War, the building was used as the capitol of the Confederate States of America, the building was renovated between 2005 and 2006. Senators and Delegates have their offices in the General Assembly Building across the street north of the Capitol. The Governor of Virginia lives across the street directly east of the Capitol in the Virginia Executive Mansion, the Virginia General Assembly is described as the oldest continuous law-making body in the New World. Its existence dates from the establishment of the Virginia Governors Council, at various times it may have been referred to as the Grand Assembly of Virginia. The General Assembly met in Jamestown from 1619 until 1699, when it moved to Williamsburg, Virginia and it became the General Assembly in 1776 with the ratification of the Virginia Constitution. The government was moved to Richmond in 1780 during the administration of Governor Thomas Jefferson, the annual salary for senators is $18,000. The annual salary for delegates is $17,640, under the Constitution, a senator or delegate who moves his residence from the district for which he is elected shall thereby vacate his office. Article II, section 6 on apportionment states, Members of the, Senate and of the House of Delegates of the General Assembly shall be elected from electoral districts established by the General Assembly. The Redistricting Coalition of Virginia proposes either an independent commission or a commission that is not polarized. Member organizations include the League of Women Voters of Virginia, AARP of Virginia, OneVirginia2021, the Virginia Chamber of Commerce, Governor Bob McDonnells Independent Bipartisan Advisory Commission on Redistricting for the Commonwealth of Virginia made its report on April 1,2011. It made two recommendations for state legislative house that showed maps of districts more compact and contiguous than those adopted by the General Assembly. In 2011, the Virginia College and University Redistricting Competition was organized by Professors Michael McDonald of George Mason University, about 150 students on sixteen teams from thirteen schools submitted plans for legislative and U. S
26.
Colony of Virginia
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The Colony of Virginia was the first permanently settled English colony in North America. Newfoundland, with settlements, had been established as a colony by Royal Charter in 1583. American archaeologist William Kelso says Virginia is where the British Empire began and this was the first colony in the British Empire. The colony existed briefly during the 16th century, and then continuously from 1607 until the American Revolution, the name Virginia was first applied by Sir Walter Raleigh and Queen Elizabeth I in 1584. In 1607, members of a joint venture called the Virginia Company founded Jamestown, tobacco became Virginias first profitable export, the production of which had a significant impact on the society and settlement patterns. In 1624, the Virginia Companys charter was revoked by King James I, from 1619 to 1776, the legislature of the Virginia was the House of Burgesses, which governed in conjunction with a colonial governor. Jamestown remained the capital of the Virginia colony until 1699, from 1699 until its dissolution the capital was in Williamsburg and it experienced its first major political turmoil with Bacons Rebellion of 1676. The name Virginia is the oldest designation for English claims in North America, the latter word may have inspired the Queen to name the colony Virginia, noting her status as the Virgin Queen. in Carolina Algonquian, and was not the name of the country as previously misunderstood. Virginia was originally a term used to refer to North Americas entire eastern coast from the 34th parallel north to 48th parallel and this area included a large section of Canada and the shores of Acadia. In gratitude for Virginians loyalty to the crown during the English Civil War, Charles II gave it the title of Old Dominion, Virginia maintains Old Dominion as its state nickname. Accordingly, the University of Virginias athletic teams use Cavaliers as one of their nicknames, earlier attempts had been made by the Spanish in what is now Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia, and by the French in South Carolina. Farther south, the Spanish colony of Spanish Florida, centered on St. Augustine, was established in 1565, while to the north, in 1584, Sir Walter Raleigh sent his first colonization mission to the island of Roanoke. This was the first English settlement, although it did not survive and it was a military research expedition with a very narrow focus. In 1587, Raleigh sent another group to attempt to establish a permanent settlement. The first English child born in the New World was named Virginia Dare, the expedition leader, John White returned to England for supplies that same year, but was unable to return to the colony due to war between England and Spain. When he finally did return in 1590, he found the colony abandoned, the houses were intact, but the colonists had completely disappeared. Although there are a number of theories about the fate of the colony, Dare County was named in honor of the baby Virginia Dare, who was among those whose fate is unknown. The word Croatoan was found carved into a tree, the name of a tribe on a nearby island, following the death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603, King James I ascended to the throne
27.
Norfolk, Virginia
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Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. At the 2010 census, the population was 242,803, in 2015, Norfolk is located at the core of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, named for the large natural harbor of the same name located at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay. It is one of nine cities and seven counties that constitute the Hampton Roads metro area, officially known as the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, the city is bordered to the west by the Elizabeth River and to the north by the Chesapeake Bay. It also shares borders with the independent cities of Chesapeake to its south. Norfolk is one of the oldest cities in Hampton Roads, and is considered to be the historic, urban, financial, the city has a long history as a strategic military and transportation point. The largest Navy base in the world, Naval Station Norfolk, is located in Norfolk along with one of NATOs two Strategic Command headquarters. As the city is bordered by multiple bodies of water, Norfolk has many miles of riverfront and bayfront property, including beaches on the Chesapeake Bay. It is linked to its neighbors by a network of Interstate highways, bridges, tunnels. In 1619, the Governor of the Virginia Colony, Sir George Yeardley incorporated four jurisdictions, termed citties and these formed the basis for colonial representative government in the newly minted House of Burgesses. What would become Norfolk was put under the Elizabeth Cittie incorporation, in 1634 King Charles I reorganized the colony into a system of shires. The former Elizabeth Cittie became Elizabeth City Shire, after persuading 105 people to settle in the colony, Adam Thoroughgood was granted a large land holding, through the head rights system, along the Lynnhaven River in 1636. When the South Hampton Roads portion of the shire was separated, one year later, it was split into two counties, Upper Norfolk and Lower Norfolk, chiefly on Thoroughgoods recommendation. This area of Virginia became known as the place of entrepreneurs, the House of Burgesses established the Towne of Lower Norfolk County in 1680. In 1691, a final county subdivision took place when Lower Norfolk County split to form Norfolk County, in 1730, a tobacco inspection site was located here. By 1775, Norfolk developed into what contemporary observers argued was the most prosperous city in Virginia and it was an important port for exporting goods to the British Isles and beyond. In part because of its merchants numerous trading ties with other parts of the British Empire, after fleeing the colonial capital of Williamsburg, Lord Dunmore, the Royal Governor of Virginia, tried to reestablish control of the colony from Norfolk. Dunmore secured small victories at Norfolk but was forced into exile by the American rebels and his departure brought an end to more than 168 years of British colonial rule in Virginia. On New Years Day,1776, Lord Dunmores fleet of three ships shelled the city of Norfolk for more than eight hours, the damage from the shells and fires started by the British and spread by the patriots destroyed over 800 buildings, almost two-thirds of the city
28.
Portsmouth, Virginia
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Portsmouth is an independent city located in the U. S. commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 95,535 and it is part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. The shipyard upgrades, remodels, and repairs ships of the US Navy and is one of the few facilities in the world with the capability to dry dock an aircraft carrier. Directly opposite Norfolk, the city of Portsmouth also has miles of waterfront land on the Elizabeth River as part of the harbor of Hampton Roads, there is a ferry boat that takes riders back and forth across the water between Downtown Norfolk and Olde Towne Portsmouth. Portsmouth is located on the side of the Elizabeth River directly across from the City of Norfolk. In 1620, the site of Portsmouth was recognized as suitable shipbuilding location by John Wood, a shipbuilder. The surrounding area was settled as a plantation community. Portsmouth was founded by Colonel William Crawford, a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses and it was established as a town in 1752 by an act of the Virginia General Assembly and was named for Portsmouth, England. In 1767, Andrew Sprowle, a shipbuilder, founded the Gosport Shipyard adjacent to Portsmouth, the Gosport Shipyard at Portsmouth was owned by the Commonwealth of Virginia after the American Revolutionary War and was sold to the new United States federal government. In 1855, the Portsmouth and Norfolk area suffered an epidemic of fever which killed 1 of every three citizens. It became an independent city from Norfolk County in 1858, during the American Civil War, in 1861, Virginia joined the Confederate States of America. Fearing that the Confederacy would take control of the shipyard at Portsmouth, the Confederate forces did in fact take over the shipyard, and did so without armed conflict through an elaborate ruse orchestrated by civilian railroad builder William Mahone. The Union forces withdrew to Fort Monroe across Hampton Roads, which was the land in the area which remained under Union control. In early 1862, the Confederate ironclad warship CSS Virginia was rebuilt using the hulk of USS Merrimack. Virginia engaged the Union ironclad USS Monitor in the famous Battle of Hampton Roads during the Union blockade of Hampton Roads, the Confederates burned the shipyard again when they left in May 1862. Following the recapture of Norfolk and Portsmouth by the Union forces, the name of the shipyard was derived from its location in Norfolk County. The Norfolk Naval Shipyard today is located entirely within the city limits of Portsmouth, Portsmouth was the county seat of Norfolk County until 1963 when the new city of Chesapeake was formed in a political consolidation with the city of South Norfolk. Portsmouths other county neighbor, the former Nansemond County, also consolidated with a smaller city, one of the older cities of Hampton Roads, in the early 21st century, Portsmouth was undergoing moderate urban renewal in the downtown
29.
Lock (water navigation)
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A lock is a device used for raising and lowering boats, ships and other watercraft between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. Locks are used to make a more easily navigable, or to allow a canal to cross land that is not level. Later canals used more and larger locks to allow a direct route to be taken. Since 2016 the largest lock worldwide is the Kieldrecht Lock in the Port of Antwerp, a pound lock is a type of lock that is used almost exclusively nowadays on canals and rivers. A pound lock has a chamber with gates at both ends that control the level of water in the pound, in contrast, an earlier design with a single gate was known as a flash lock. Pound locks were first used in medieval China during the Song Dynasty, having been pioneered by the government official and engineer Qiao Weiyue in 984. The gates were hanging gates, when they were closed the water accumulated like a tide until the level was reached. The water level could differ by 4 feet or 5 feet at each lock, in medieval Europe a sort of pound lock was built in 1373 at Vreeswijk, Netherlands. This pound lock serviced many ships at once in a large basin, yet the first true pound lock was built in 1396 at Damme near Bruges, Belgium. A famous civil engineer of pound locks in Europe was the Italian Bertola da Novate, who constructed 18 of them on the Naviglio di Bereguardo between the years 1452 and 1458. When a stretch of river is navigable, a lock is sometimes required to bypass an obstruction such as a rapid, dam. In large scale river navigation improvements, weirs and locks are used together, a river improved by these means is often called a Waterway or River Navigation. Sometimes a river is made entirely non-tidal by constructing a sea lock directly into the estuary, in more advanced river navigations, more locks are required. Where a longer cut bypasses a stretch of river, the upstream end of the cut will often be protected by a flood lock. The longer the cut, the greater the difference in level between start and end of the cut, so that a very long cut will need additional locks along its length. At this point, the cut is, in effect, a canal, Early completely artificial canals, across fairly flat countryside, would get round a small hill or depression by simply detouring around it. However, locks continued to be built to supplement these solutions, all pound locks have three elements, A watertight chamber connecting the upper and lower canals, and large enough to enclose one or more boats. The position of the chamber is fixed, but its level can vary
30.
Battle of Great Bridge
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The Battle of Great Bridge was fought December 9,1775, in the area of Great Bridge, Virginia, early in the American Revolutionary War. Following increasing political and military tensions in early 1775, both Dunmore and colonial rebel leaders recruited troops and engaged in a struggle for military supplies. The struggle eventually focused on Norfolk, where Dunmore had taken aboard a Royal Navy vessel. Dunmores forces had fortified one side of a river crossing south of Norfolk at Great Bridge. In an attempt to break up the gathering, Dunmore ordered an attack across the bridge. Colonel William Woodford, the Virginia militia commander at the battle, shortly thereafter, Norfolk, at the time a Tory center, was abandoned by Dunmore and the Tories, who fled to navy ships in the harbor. Rebel-occupied Norfolk was destroyed on January 1,1776 in an action begun by Dunmore, the Burgesses authorized existing and newly raised militia troops to arm themselves, leading to a struggle for control of the colonys military supplies. Under orders from Lord Dunmore, British forces removed gunpowder from the storehouse in the capital of Williamsburg. Although the incident was resolved without violence, Dunmore, fearing for his safety, left Williamsburg in June 1775. A small British fleet then took shape at Norfolk, a town whose merchants had significant Loyalist tendencies. The threat posed by the British fleet may also have played a role in minimizing Whig activity in the town, incidents continued between rebels on one side and loyalists on the other until October, when Dunmore had acquired enough military support to begin operations against the rebellious colonists. General Thomas Gage, the British commander-in-chief for North America, had ordered small detachments of the 14th Regiment of Foot to Virginia in response to pleas by Dunmore for military help and these troops began raiding surrounding counties for rebel military supplies on October 12. This activity continued through the end of October, when a small British ship ran aground and was captured by rebels during a skirmish near Hampton. Navy boats sent to punish the townspeople were repulsed by colonial militia in a gunfight that resulted in the killing. Dunmore reacted to this event by issuing a proclamation on November 7 in which he declared martial law, the proclamation alarmed rebel and loyalist slaveholders alike, concerned by the idea of armed former slaves and the potential loss of their property. Nevertheless, Dunmore was able to recruit slaves to form the Ethiopian Regiment. These local forces supplemented the two companies of the 14th Foot, and in addition to the forces, that were the sole British military presence in the colony. This successful recruiting drive prompted Dunmore to write on November 30,1775 that he would soon be able to reduce this colony to a sense of their duty
31.
American Revolutionary War
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From about 1765 the American Revolution had led to increasing philosophical and political differences between Great Britain and its American colonies. The war represented a culmination of these differences in armed conflict between Patriots and the authority which they increasingly resisted. This resistance became particularly widespread in the New England Colonies, especially in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. On December 16,1773, Massachusetts members of the Patriot group Sons of Liberty destroyed a shipment of tea in Boston Harbor in an event that became known as the Boston Tea Party. Named the Coercive Acts by Parliament, these became known as the Intolerable Acts in America. The Massachusetts colonists responded with the Suffolk Resolves, establishing a government that removed control of the province from the Crown outside of Boston. Twelve colonies formed a Continental Congress to coordinate their resistance, and established committees, British attempts to seize the munitions of Massachusetts colonists in April 1775 led to the first open combat between Crown forces and Massachusetts militia, the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Militia forces proceeded to besiege the British forces in Boston, forcing them to evacuate the city in March 1776, the Continental Congress appointed George Washington to take command of the militia. Concurrent to the Boston campaign, an American attempt to invade Quebec, on July 2,1776, the Continental Congress formally voted for independence, issuing its Declaration on July 4. Sir William Howe began a British counterattack, focussing on recapturing New York City, Howe outmaneuvered and defeated Washington, leaving American confidence at a low ebb. Washington captured a Hessian force at Trenton and drove the British out of New Jersey, in 1777 the British sent a new army under John Burgoyne to move south from Canada and to isolate the New England colonies. However, instead of assisting Burgoyne, Howe took his army on a campaign against the revolutionary capital of Philadelphia. Burgoyne outran his supplies, was surrounded and surrendered at Saratoga in October 1777, the British defeat in the Saratoga Campaign had drastic consequences. Giving up on the North, the British decided to salvage their former colonies in the South, British forces under Lieutenant-General Charles Cornwallis seized Georgia and South Carolina, capturing an American army at Charleston, South Carolina. British strategy depended upon an uprising of large numbers of armed Loyalists, in 1779 Spain joined the war as an ally of France under the Pacte de Famille, intending to capture Gibraltar and British colonies in the Caribbean. Britain declared war on the Dutch Republic in December 1780, in 1781, after the British and their allies had suffered two decisive defeats at Kings Mountain and Cowpens, Cornwallis retreated to Virginia, intending on evacuation. A decisive French naval victory in September deprived the British of an escape route, a joint Franco-American army led by Count Rochambeau and Washington, laid siege to the British forces at Yorktown. With no sign of relief and the situation untenable, Cornwallis surrendered in October 1781, Whigs in Britain had long opposed the pro-war Tory majority in Parliament, but the defeat at Yorktown gave the Whigs the upper hand
32.
Earl of Dunmore
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Earl of Dunmore is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1686 for Lord Charles Murray, second son of John Murray and he was made Lord Murray of Blair, Moulin and Tillimet and Viscount of Fincastle at the same time, also in the Peerage of Scotland. He was succeeded by his son, the second Earl and he was a General in the Army and sat in the House of Lords as a Scottish Representative Peer from 1713 to 1715 and from 1727 to 1752. His younger brother, William Murray, later to become the third Earl, was involved in the Jacobite rising of 1745 and was tried for treason in 1746. Murray pleaded guilty but received a pardon from King George II, the third Earl was succeeded by his son, the fourth Earl. He was also a Scottish Representative Peer in the House of Lords from 1761 to 1774 and from 1776 to 1790 and served as Governor of New York, of Virginia and his eldest son, the fifth Earl, briefly represented Liskeard in the House of Commons. George Murray, 5th Earl of Dunmore, bought the Estate of Harris from Alexander Norman Macleod for £60,000 in 1834. In 1839, the people of South Harris were ejected from their homes by armed soldiers, thus the 6th Earl was about halfway through his proprietorship of the island when he was providing a pound per person for those electing to leave. The seventh Earl of Dunmore served as a Lord-in-Waiting in the second Conservative administration of Benjamin Disraeli and was also Lord Lieutenant of Stirlingshire, the 7th Earl relinquished ownership of the North Harris Estate to his bankers, in particular the Scott family. He was succeeded by his son, the eighth Earl and he was a soldier and was awarded the Victoria Cross in 1897. Lord Dunmore later held office as Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms. On the death in 1980 of his grandson, the ninth Earl, the line of the fifth Earl failed, the late Earl was succeeded by his distant relative, the tenth Earl. He was the great-great-grandson of the Hon. Alexander Murray, second son on the fourth Earl, as of 2014 the titles are held by his nephew, the twelfth Earl, who succeeded his father in 1995. The family seat was Amhuinnsuidhe Castle, on the Isle of Harris and Dunmore Tower, near Airth, the heir presumptives heir presumptive is his first cousin Stephen Alexander Murray. The heir presumptives heir presumptives heir apparent is his son, Anthony Victor Murray, Lady Charlotte Murray, wife of John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore. Lady Charlotte was the daughter of Alexander Stewart, 6th Earl of Galloway, New York, St Martins Press,1990. Donald J MacLeod, Woodcroft Avenue, Bridge of Don in The Scotsman, Edinburgh 21 April 2011 The Caledonian Mercury,2 September 1841 Leigh Rayments Peerage Pages Lundy, Darryl
33.
Lake Drummond
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Surface area of the lake is approximately 3,142 acres and the maximum depth is 6 ft. Management of the lake is the responsibility of the United States Fish, scientists think the Great Dismal Swamp was created when the continental shelf made its last big shift. The whole swamp has peat underneath, several theories exist on the origin of Lake Drummond. People have argued that the lake was made by a big underground peat burn about 3,500 to 6,000 years ago, Native American legend talks about the fire bird creating Lake Drummond. Other theories regarding the lakes origin include a meteorite impact and a tectonic shift, Lake Drummond is one of only two natural freshwater lakes in Virginia. The other, Mountain Lake in Giles County, is also of unknown origin, curiously, both are lakes essentially on top of hills. Lake Drummond is the highest point in the Dismal Swamp, with nine ditches flowing out of it, the time of the Great Dismal Swamps discovery is not known precisely, but archaeological evidence indicates human occupation began nearly 13,000 years ago. By 1650, few Native Americans remained in the area, in 1665, William Drummond, a future governor of North Carolina, discovered the lake which now bears his name. Several centuries of exploitation and logging reduced the swamp to about 50% of its original size and it was common practice for merchant ships of the time to fill up water casks with the dark-stained water from Lake Drummond. With its high content, the water would remain fresher longer on trans-Atlantic voyages than water from other sources. Lake Drummond and much of the Great Dismal Swamp are within the bounds of the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, the refuge includes almost 107,000 acres of forest wetlands. North Carolina established a park to protect another portion of the swamp. Dismal Swamp State Park protects 22 square miles of forested wetland, due to relatively low pH levels caused by the leaching of acidic materials from surrounding peat soils, the lake has a relatively low level of nutrients. A few species of fish are represented, including crappie, bowfin, the folklore story Phantom Lovers of Dismal Swamp is based entirely around this area. According to the tale, he can be seen wandering the swamp at night with his red hot coal, Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. Http, //americanfolklore. net/folklore/2010/07/the_phantom_lovers_of_dismal_s. html Satellite Picture by Google Maps Dismal Swamp Canal Welcome Center
34.
Commuter town
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A commuter town is a town whose residents normally work elsewhere, although they live, eat and sleep in these neighborhoods. The name also suggests that these communities have little commercial or industrial activity beyond a small amount of retail, oriented toward locals. A commuter town may also be known as an exurb, or a community, bedroom town or bedroom suburb. The phrase bedroom town has also adopted into the Japanese wasei-eigo word bed town. Suburbs and commuter towns often coincide, but not always, similar to college town, resort town, and mill town, the term commuter town describes the municipalitys predominant economic function. A suburb, in contrast, is a community of size, density, political power. A towns economic function may change, for example when improved transport brings commuters to industrial suburbs or railway towns in search of suburban living, commuter towns may be in rural or semi-rural areas, with a ring of green space separating them from the larger city or town. Where urban sprawl and conurbation have erased clear lines among towns and cities in large metropolitan areas, commuter towns can arise for a number of different reasons. Sometimes, as in Sleepy Hollow, New York or Tiburon, California, in other cases, a pleasant small town, such as Warwick, New York, over time attracts more residents but not large businesses to employ them, requiring denizens to commute to employment centers. Another cause, particularly relevant in the American South and West, is the growth of once-small cities. Owing largely to the creation of the Interstate Highway System. As a result, many cities were absorbed into the suburbs of these larger cities. Often, however, commuter towns form when workers in a region cannot afford to live where they work, the late 20th century dot-com bubble and United States housing bubble drove housing costs in Californian metropolitan areas to historic highs, spawning exurban growth in adjacent counties. For example, most cities in western Riverside County, California can be considered exurbs of Orange County, California and Los Angeles County, as of 2003, over 80% of the workforce of Tracy, California was employed in the San Francisco Bay Area. A related phenomenon is common in the towns of the American West that require large workforces, yet emphasize building larger single-family residences. In certain major European cites, such as Berlin and London, around London, several towns – such as Basildon, Crawley, Harlow, and Stevenage – were built for this purpose by the Commission for New Towns. In some cases, commuter towns can result from negative economic conditions, steubenville, Ohio, for instance, had its own regional identity along with neighboring Weirton, West Virginia until the collapse of the steel industry in the 1980s. In 2013, Jefferson County, Ohio was added to the Pittsburgh metropolitan area as part of its larger Combined Statistical Area, long-time residents may be displaced by new commuter residents due to rising house prices
35.
Virginia Beach, Virginia
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Virginia Beach is an independent city located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 437,994, in 2015, the population was estimated to be 452,745. Although mostly suburban in character, it is the most populous city in Virginia, despite being larger, Virginia Beach is generally considered to be a suburb of Norfolk. Located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, Virginia Beach is a resort city with miles of beaches and hundreds of hotels, motels, and restaurants along its oceanfront. Every year the city hosts the East Coast Surfing Championships as well as the North American Sand Soccer Championship, a beach soccer tournament. Near the point where the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean meet, Cape Henry was the site of the first landing of the English colonists, the city is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as having the longest pleasure beach in the world. It is located at the end of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. The Chesepian were the indigenous people of the area now known as Tidewater in Virginia at the time of European encounter. Little is known about them but archeological evidence suggests they may have related to the Carolina Algonquian. They would have one of the Algonquian languages. These were common among the tribes of the coastal area. The Chesepian occupied an area which is now defined as the independent cities of Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake and they named it Cape Henry, after Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of King James I of England. They created their first permanent settlement on the side of the James River at Jamestown. Adam Thoroughgood of Kings Lynn, Norfolk, England is one of the earliest Englishmen to settle in this area, at the age of 18, he had contracted as an indentured servant to pay for passage to the Virginia Colony in the hopes of bettering his life. He earned his freedom after several years and became a citizen of the area. In 1629, he was elected to the House of Burgesses for Elizabeth Cittie, in 1634, the Colony was divided into the original eight shires of Virginia, soon renamed as counties. Thoroughgood is credited using the name of his home in England when helping name New Norfolk County in 1637. The following year, New Norfolk County was split into Upper Norfolk County, Thoroughgood resided after 1634 was along the Lynnhaven River, named for his home in England
36.
D.C. sniper attacks
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The D. C. or Beltway sniper attacks were a series of coordinated shootings that took place over three weeks in October 2002 in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D. C. Ten people were killed and three victims were critically injured in several locations throughout the Washington, D. C. metropolitan area. The rampage was perpetrated by John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo, in September 2003, Muhammad was sentenced to death. One month later, Malvo was sentenced to six life sentences without the possibility of parole. On November 10,2009, Muhammad was executed by lethal injection at the Greensville Correctional Center near Jarratt, on February 16,2002, Keenya Cook was shot and killed at the front door of her home in Tacoma, Washington. On March 19,2002, Jerry Taylor was killed by a shot to the chest fired from long range as he practiced chip shots at a Tucson. Several other deaths and injuries followed in other states from March to August 2002. On August 1,2002, John Gaeta was changing a tire at a lot in Hammond, Louisiana. The bullet exited through Gaetas back, and he pretended to be dead while Malvo stole his wallet, Gaeta ran to a service station after the shooter left and discovered that he was bleeding, he went to a hospital and was released within an hour. On March 1,2010, he received a letter of apology from Malvo. On September 5,2002, at 10,30 p. m. Paul LaRuffa, LaRuffa survived the shooting, and his laptop computer was found in John Allen Muhammads car when he and Malvo were arrested. On September 21,2002, at 12,15 a. m, 41-year-old Million A. Woldemariam was fatally shot in the head and back with a. 22-caliber pistol in Atlanta, Georgia. Woldemariam was helping the owner of a Sammys Package Store close up for the night when the shooting occurred, nineteen hours later on the same day, Claudine Parker, a liquor store clerk in Montgomery, Alabama, was shot and killed during a robbery. Her co-worker, Kellie Adams, was injured but survived, on September 23,2002, at 6,30 p. m. 45-year-old Hong Im Ballenger was shot in the head and killed with a Bushmaster rifle in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Muhammad and Malvo were linked to the killing, at 5,20 p. m. on October 2,2002, a shot was fired through a window of a Michaels craft store in Aspen Hill, Maryland. The bullet narrowly missed Ann Chapman, a cashier at the store, since no one was injured, no serious alarms were raised. On the morning of October 3, four people were dead within a span of approximately two hours in Aspen Hill and other nearby areas in Montgomery County. Another was killed that evening in the Takoma neighborhood of the District of Columbia, at 7,41 a. m. James L. Buchanan, a 39-year-old landscaper known as Sonny, was shot dead at 11411 Rockville Pike near Rockville, Maryland
United States
Virginia
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Travel guide from Wikivoyage
Chesapeake, Virginia
