South Hampton Roads

South Hampton Roads, often called "the Southside" by locals, is a region in southeastern Virginia in the United States. It is part of the larger Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC MSA, a busy area where many people live close together. In 2020, about 1,177,742 people lived in South Hampton Roads.

Hampton Roads is the name for the whole area around a special body of water. The land is split into two parts: South Hampton Roads on the south side and the Virginia Peninsula on the north side. The Hampton Roads area is very big — it was the ninth largest area in the southeastern United States in 2020. It is the second-largest area between Washington, D.C., and Atlanta, Georgia.

U.S. military installations

South Hampton Roads has several important United States military bases.

City of Portsmouth

The Norfolk Naval Shipyard is in Portsmouth, along with the Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth. These are two important places, and the shipyard opened in 1767. It has the country's first dry dock. The name changed after the American Civil War.

USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67) arriving at Naval Station Norfolk

City of Norfolk

Across the Elizabeth River, near the mouth of Hampton Roads, is the Norfolk Navy Base. This base opened in 1917 and is now the largest naval place in the world.

City of Virginia Beach

Virginia Beach is home to the U.S. Navy's Naval Air Station Oceana and Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek. Both of these bases are among the largest of their kind in the world. Nearby is also NAVSEA Dam Neck. Virginia Beach is also the home of Joint Expeditionary Base East, located at Cape Henry.

City of Chesapeake

The St. Julien's Creek Annex is a U.S. Navy place in Chesapeake. It started in 1849 and is now part of the Norfolk Navy Base. Chesapeake is also home to U.S. Naval Auxiliary Landing Field Fentress, which helps Naval Air Station Oceana.

Local government

In the early days, the local government in South Hampton Roads changed often because the area was growing. As more people moved in, new towns and cities formed. By 1871, cities in Virginia became separate from the counties they used to be part of.

Later, many cities and counties in South Hampton Roads joined together. This made some cities very large, with both farms and more crowded areas.

Today, South Hampton Roads has five independent cities, three counties, and three towns. Some older areas no longer exist because they were combined with others as the region grew.

Current cities, counties and towns

The South Hampton Roads region includes five independent cities, three counties, and three incorporated towns.

Independent cities

Chesapeake (formerly Norfolk County)
Norfolk
Portsmouth
Suffolk (formerly Nansemond County)
Virginia Beach (formerly Princess Anne County)

Counties

Incorporated towns

Extinct political subdivisions

Some older areas are no longer separate because they joined with others. If you are looking for old records, you might need to search under these older names.

The following lists these areas and when they existed:

Elizabeth River Shire (1634–1636) and Elizabeth City County (1636–1952)
Warrosquyoake Shire (1634–1637)
New Norfolk County (1636–1637)
Upper Norfolk County (1637–1646)
Lower Norfolk County (1637–1691)
Nansemond County (1646–1972)
Norfolk County (1691–1963)
Princess Anne County (1691–1963)
Town of Berkley (unknown-1906)
South Norfolk (1919–1963)
City of Nansemond (1972–1974)

Highways, bridges, tunnels, bridge-tunnels

The South Hampton Roads area is mostly surrounded by water. To get there from the north, you need to use highways, bridges, tunnels, and bridge-tunnels that cross the James and Elizabeth Rivers, the harbor of Hampton Roads, and the Chesapeake Bay. The area is next to the Atlantic Ocean on the east, the State of North Carolina on the south, and several counties in the Southside Virginia region on the west.