Norfolk City Guide

Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, located on the Elizabeth River at Chesapeake Bay. The bay forms a large natural harbor, which has given the city a long history as a strategic military location and trade center. Norfolk is one of seven cities that form the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, serving as the area's urban and cultural center. As it is surrounded by various bodies of water, Norfolk is connected to its neighbors by a network of highways, bridges, tunnels, and pedestrian ferries. The city is home to the Norfolk Naval Base, the largest of its kind in the world, and also houses the Navy's Atlantic Fleet and NATO's Allied Command Atlantic.

In 1682, the Virginia House of Burgesses purchased 50 acres from a carpenter named Nicholas Wise for the price of 10,000 pounds of tobacco, and laid out "Norfolk Towne." On New Year's Day, 1776, the British shelled Norfolk, destroying almost two-thirds of the town. The fleeing colonists completed the job, burning the rest of Norfolk to the ground to keep any of it from falling into British hands. Norfolk was the only U.S. town completely destroyed and rebuilt, and a cannonball in the wall of St. Paul's Church still remains there today as a reminder of the Revolutionary War.