Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Birthplace of
Eight US presidents including George Washington (1732-99), Con-
federate General Robert E Lee (1807-70), tennis ace Arthur Ashe (1943-93), au-
thor Tom Wolfe (b 1931), actress Sandra Bullock (b 1964)
Home of
The Pentagon, the CIA, more technology workers than any other state
Politics
Republican
Famous for
American history, tobacco, apples, Shenandoah National Park
State beverage
Milk
Driving distances
Arlington to Shenandoah 113 miles, Richmond to Virginia Beach
108 miles
History
Humans have occupied Virginia for at least 5000 years. Several thousand Native Americ-
ans were already here in May 1607 when Captain James Smith and his crew sailed up
Chesapeake Bay and founded Jamestown, the first permanent English colony in the New
World. Named for the 'Virgin Queen' Elizabeth I, the territory originally occupied most
of America's eastern seaboard. By 1610 most of the colonists had died from starvation in
their quest for gold, until colonist John Rolfe (husband of Pocahontas) discovered Virgin-
ia's real riches: tobacco.
A feudal aristocracy grew out of tobacco farming, and many gentry scions became
Founding Fathers, including native son George Washington. In the 19th century the
slave-based plantation system grew in size and incompatibility with the industrializing
North; Virginia seceded in 1861 and became the epicenter of the Civil War. Following its
defeat the state walked a tense cultural tightrope, accruing a layered identity that in-
cluded older aristocrats, a rural and urban working class, waves of immigrants and,
today, the burgeoning tech-heavy suburbs of DC. The state revels in its history, yet still
wants to pioneer the American experiment; thus, while Virginia only reluctantly deseg-
regated in the 1960s, today it houses one of the most ethnically diverse populations of the
New South.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Northern Virginia
