Hampton Roads history begins with the founding of our nation. Mariners and shipping interests have known our harbor for more than 200 years as a safe and secure port. The name dates from the 17th century English Earl of Southampton, Henry Wriothesley, and the nautical term road. Nautically speaking, a road is a safe harbor; a protected anchorage. The area was named in his honor by the first royal governor, Lord de la Ware, in the early 1600s.The Hampton Roads region includes the communities of Chesapeake, Franklin, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Poquoson, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Virginia Beach, and Williamsburg, and the Counties of Gloucester, Isle of Wight, James City, Southampton, Surry, and York. The James River, Chesapeake Bay and nearby Atlantic Ocean provide abundant water recreation opportunities. Our beach resorts offer some of the finest fishing, sun bathing and other amenities available on the East coast. The regional communities and historic neighborhoods offer a comfortable lifestyle. Waterfront homes are surprisingly affordable and there are several golf club communities also.

Hampton Roads history and penny postcards? This is really not as strange a combination as it sounds. Prior to 1952, penny postcards were a popular means of short and "quick" communication. Like the telephone, interstate highways, or e-mail of today, postcards were used frequently to "drop a line" to someone at home during the "penny postcard" era. Combine our beach resorts, excellent fishing, history resources that span from the colonial era through the current space exploration and our regions Military and technology presence and it's easy to envision us as a destination for many. 

Select a link to begin your penny postcard tour of Hampton Roads.

Hampton Roads history and penny postcard tour

Copyright © 1999-2003 Historic Hampton Roads, Inc.

This page was last updated: Tuesday, July 01, 2003 06:49 PM