Princess Anne County, Virginia

When Admiral Christopher Newport and the colonists of the Virginia Company arrived in 1607, George Percy and his fellow Englishmen's "first landing" was at Cape Henry in what was to become Princess Anne County.

They named the spot in honor of Henry Frederick Stuart, the elder of two surviving sons of King James I of England.

During the early 17th century, English settlers explored and began settling the areas adjacent to Hampton Roads.

Adam Thoroughgood was an early leader in the area which became Princess Anne County, settling along the Lynnhaven River.

In Princess Anne and Norfolk Counties, organized criminals took advantage of the sudden power vacuum created in part by the ineffectiveness of the newly formed local authorities.

His group used intimidation, the county's rough, swampy terrain, and disaffected local sympathizers to rob, kill, and terrorize the area for several years.

[4] Beginning in the late 19th century, the small resort area of Virginia Beach along the Atlantic Ocean at the north eastern portion of the county's vast expanse of shoreline grew, particularly after 1888 with the arrival of rail service and electricity.

It was incorporated as a town in 1906 and became an independent city on January 1, 1963, but Princess Anne (Courthouse) remained the county seat.