Chesapeake Virginia History & Facts

Chesapeake is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 249,422, it is the second-most populous independent city in Virginia, tenth-largest in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 90th most populous city in the United States.

Chesapeake is included in the Virginia Beach–Norfolk–Newport News, VA–NC, MSA. One of the cities in the South Hampton Roads, Chesapeake was organized in 1963 by voter referendums approving the political consolidation of the city of South Norfolk with the remnants of the former Norfolk County, which dated to 1691. (Much of the territory of the county had been annexed by other cities.) Chesapeake is the second-largest city by land area in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the 17th-largest in the United States.

Chesapeake is a diverse city in which a few urban areas are located; it also has many square miles of protected farmland, forests, and wetlands, including a substantial portion of the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. Extending from the rural border with North Carolina to the harbor area of Hampton Roads adjacent to the cities of Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, and Virginia Beach, Chesapeake is located on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. It has miles of waterfront industrial, commercial and residential property.

In 2011, Chesapeake was named the 21st best city in the United States by Bloomberg Businessweek. Chesapeake is home to the international Headquarters for Dollar Tree.

In 1963, the new independent city of Chesapeake was created when the former independent city of South Norfolk consolidated with Norfolk County. The consolidation was approved and the new name selected by the voters of each community by referendum, and authorized by the Virginia General Assembly.

Formed in 1691 in the Virginia Colony, Norfolk County had originally included essentially all the area which became the towns and later cities of Norfolk, Portsmouth, and South Norfolk. Its area was reduced after 1871 as these cities added territory through annexations. Becoming an independent city was a method for the former county to stabilize borders with neighbors, as cities could not annex territory from each other.

Chesapeake is located at 36°46′2″N 76°17′14″W (36.767398, -76.287405).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 351 square miles (910 km2), of which 341 square miles (880 km2) is land and 10 square miles (26 km2) (2.9%) is water.

Famous Peoples From Chesapeake Virginia

James Randy Forbes

(born February 17, 1952) is an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U.S. representative for Virginia's 4th congressional district, serving from 2001 to 2017.

Prior to joining the United States Congress, he was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, Virginia State Senate, and Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia. Forbes formerly served as Chairman of the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee.

During the Donald Trump administration, Forbes has been reviewed as a prospective choice for Secretary of the Navy. Forbes campaigned for Trump in the 2016 presidential election. Forbes was passed over twice for the first-round and second round nominations of Secretary of the Navy.

Forbes served as a senior distinguished fellow at the U.S. Naval War College from February through December 2017.

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