Virginia Beach, VA news and local guide

Adam Thoroughgood of King's Lynn, England, who came over as an 18-year-old indentured servant, became one of the area's first English settlers and a member of the House of Burgesses in 1629. He is credited with suggesting the name New Norfolk County in 1637, and he lived on the Lynnhaven River, named after his home. Lower Norfolk County was split in 1691, and the eastern part became Princess Anne County. It stretched from Cape Henry to the North Carolina line and lasted for more than 250 years, until 1963. For most of that time the land was rural and farmed as plantations. A small resort grew up after the railroad reached the coast in 1883. The Norfolk and Virginia Beach Railroad and Improvement Company opened the Virginia Beach Hotel near the hamlet of Seatack, and after a foreclosure it reopened in 1888 as the Princess Anne Hotel. In 1891 hotel guests watched the U.S. Life-Saving Service try to rescue the crew of the wrecked Norwegian barque Dictator. Its figurehead stood on the oceanfront for more than 50 years as a memorial, and it inspired the Norwegian Lady statues in Virginia Beach and Moss, Norway. Sources Wikipedia: Virginia Beach, Virginia