Norfolk

Sister cities

• Toulon
• Norfolk
• Wilhelmshaven
• Halifax
• Cagayan de Oro
• Kitakyūshū

History

When the South Hampton Roads portion of the shire was separated, Thoroughgood suggested the name of his birthplace for the newly formed New Norfolk County. One year later, it was divided into two counties, Upper Norfolk and Lower Norfolk (the latter now incorporated into the City of Norfolk), chiefly on Thoroughgood's recommendation. This area of Virginia became known as the place of entrepreneurs, including men of the Virginia Company of London. Norfolk developed in the late-seventeenth century as a "Half Moone" fort was constructed and were acquired from local natives of the Powhatan Confederacy in exchange for 10,000 pounds of tobacco. The House of Burgesses established the "Towne of Lower Norfolk County" in 1680. Norfolk was incorporated in 1705. In 1730, a tobacco inspection site was located here. According to the Tobacco Inspection Act, the inspection was "At Norfolk Town, upon the fort land, in the County of Norfolk; and Kemp's Landing, in Princess Anne, under one inspection." In 1736 George II granted it a royal charter as a borough. It was an important port for exporting goods to the British Isles and beyond. After the American Revolution forced the Royal Governor of Virginia, John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore, to flee from Williamsburg, he made Norfolk the new capital of Virginia in 1775. Norfolk's 6,250 residents were primarily Loyalist because the British government had granted trade monopolies to many of their businesses. After losing at the Battle of Great Bridge that December, Lord Dunmore partially destroyed the city with naval cannonading. On January 16, 1776, the Patriots' Fourth Virginia Convention agreed to destroy most remaining homes to prevent Dunmore from using the city to amass British troops and runaway slaves. Ultimately, Colonel…

Geography

The city is located at the southeastern corner of Virginia at the junction of the Elizabeth River and the Chesapeake Bay. The Hampton Roads Metropolitan Statistical Area (officially known as the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC MSA) is the 37th largest in the United States, with an estimated population of 1,716,624 in 2014. The area includes the Virginia cities of Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Poquoson, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Williamsburg, and the counties of Gloucester, Isle of Wight, James City, Mathews, and York, as well as the North Carolina counties of Currituck and Gates. The city of Norfolk is recognized as the central business district, while the Virginia Beach oceanside resort district and Williamsburg are primarily centers of tourism. Virginia Beach is the most populated city within the MSA though it functions more as a suburb. Additionally, Norfolk is part of the Virginia Beach-Norfolk, VA-NC Combined Statistical Area, which includes the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC MSA, the Elizabeth City, North Carolina Micropolitan Statistical Area, and the Kill Devil Hills, NC Micropolitan Statistical Area. Being low-lying and largely surrounded by water, Norfolk is particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels caused by climate change. In addition, the land on which it is built is slowly subsiding. Some areas already flood regularly at high tide, and the city commissioned a study in 2012 to investigate how to address the issue in the future: it reported the cost of dealing with a sea-level rise of one foot would be around $1,000,000,000. Since then, scientists at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science in 2013 have estimated that if current trends hold, the sea in Norfolk will rise by 5 and 1/2 feet or more by the…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  26,070
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  25,721
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  21,402
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  21,317
• Double-crested Cormorant

  Phalacrocorax auritus (Lesson, 1831) · Aves
  18,400
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  17,176
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  16,583
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  16,141

Largest nearby schools

• NORVIEW HIGH
  High · Norfolk · 1,915 students · 16.2:1 ratio
• GRANBY HIGH
  High · Norfolk · 1,837 students · 15.6:1 ratio
• Matthew Fontaine Maury High
  High · Norfolk · 1,697 students · 16.2:1 ratio
• NORVIEW MIDDLE
  Middle · Norfolk · 1,259 students · 15:1 ratio
• BLAIR MIDDLE
  Middle · Norfolk · 1,149 students · 13.8:1 ratio
• LAKE TAYLOR HIGH
  High · Norfolk · 1,030 students · 15.8:1 ratio
• Booker T Washington High
  High · Norfolk · 947 students · 15.3:1 ratio
• Azalea Gardens Middle
  Middle · Norfolk · 848 students · 16:1 ratio