Welcome To Chesapeake SAFeDATA

Chesapeake is a diverse city with citified areas as well as many sq miles of protected forests and wetlands, including a substantial portion of the Great Dismal Swamp. Extending all the way from the rural border with North Carolina to the harbor area of Hampton Roads adjacent to the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth, Chesapeake is located on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and has miles of waterfront industrial, commercial and residential property.

It is currently the third largest city in Virginia in terms of populus. In 2006, its populus was estimated to be 220,560, a 10.7% increase since its 2000 census count .

Formed in 1691 in the Virginia Colony, Norfolk County had originally included essentially all the area which became the towns and later cities of Norfolk, Portsmouth, and South Norfolk, but had seen its area frequently reduced as these cities added territory through annexations after 1871. Becoming an independent city was a method for the former county to stabilize borders with neighbors, as cities could not annex territory from each other.

The comparatively small City of South Norfolk had been Incorporated as a town in 1919, and became an independent city in 1922. It was also motivated to make a change which would put it on a more equal footing in other aspects with the much bigger cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth. By the late 1950s, although immune from annexation by the bigger cities, the most recent suit by Norfolk against Norfolk County would have taken all of the county land adjoining South Norfolk.

Chesapeake`s history goes far back into Virginia`s colonial roots. The Intracoastal Waterway passes through Chesapeake. On the waterway, at Great Bridge where the locks transition from the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River to the Chesapeake and Albemarle Canal lies the site of the Battle of Great Bridge. This US Revolutionary War battle was responsible for removing Lord Dunmore and any other vestige of English Government for the Colony of Virginia during the early days of the US Revolution on December 9, 1775.

The Dismal Swamp Canal runs through Chesapeake as well. The site of this canal was surveyed by George Washington, among others, and is known as "Washington`s Ditch." It is the oldest continuously used man made canal in the US today and has been in service for over 230 years. The canal begins in the Deep Creek section of the city branching off from the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River. The canal runs through Chesapeake paralleling U.S. Highway 17 into North Carolina and connects to Elizabeth City, North Carolina.