Virginia Beach’s post office opened in 1884, and 36 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 38% of U.S. towns · #114 of 253 in Virginia State. What drives it
Most of Virginia Beach was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. 36 places in town are on the National Register, among them 2 National Historic Landmarks and ten historic districts with 751 buildings between them. Below: 14 old photos and papers, maps from 1948 on, and the census since 1910.
From Virginia Beach’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Virginia Beach began
When was Virginia Beach founded?
1884
The Virginia Beach post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1906. Ten smaller post offices, Kempsville (1797), Londonbridge (1823) and Princess Anne Courthouse (1823), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 320 in 19102020 census: 459,470142 years
How historic is Virginia Beach?
C+
More historic than 38% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Virginia Beach post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1906.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Virginia Beach’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Virginia Beach is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns, #114 of 253 in Virginia State. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Virginia Beach’s overall grade.
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Virginia Beach ranks #274 on History.
Virginia State towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Virginia State town has 3.6 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Virginia Beach’s 17.2 sits near the middle of its state (59% of Virginia State towns have fewer) while its 787 historic buildings outnumber those of 98% of U.S. towns.
Newer cities are common at Virginia Beach’s size: in the typical U.S. city of 100,000 or more, 5% of homes predate 1940.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B. The pre-1940 share (±0.1 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1906.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Virginia Beach’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. 2 are National Historic Landmarks, the highest tier. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
Back Bay Game Refuge CamplocaleBattery Alexander C M PenningtonmilitaryCreeds FieldairportFalse Cape Coast Guard StationmilitaryGreat Neck SchoolschoolKnight's Landing LLC AirportairportMount Bethel SchoolschoolNike Site N-25CmilitaryNike Site N-25LmilitaryNike Site N-36CmilitaryNike Site N-36LmilitaryPleasant Ridge SchoolschoolPungo FieldairportW E Biddle SchoolschoolW Skinner Schoolschool
14cemeteries and burying grounds inside Virginia Beach
BethelBethelBlackwaterCharity United Methodist ChurchColonial Grove Memorial ParkEastern Shore ChapelJones Memorial ParkLaneLynnhaven United MethodistNimmoOak GrovePrincess Anne Memorial ParkRosewood Memorial ParkWhitehart
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Chesepian were the historic indigenous people of the area now known as Tidewater in Virginia at the time of European encounter. Little is known about them but archeological evidence suggests they may have been related to the Carolina Algonquian, or Pamlico people. They would have spoken one of the Algonquian languages. These were common among the numerous tribes of the coastal area, who made up the loose Powhatan Confederacy, numbering in the tens of thousands in population. The Chesepian occupied an area which is now defined as the independent cities of Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, and Virginia Beach.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Virginia Beach. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1948Virginia Beach sheet · 1:24,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Virginia Beach.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewPrincess Anne Hotel, 1900
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Virginia Beach’s page.
The Virginia Beach post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1906.
How does Virginia Beach rank for history?
Virginia Beach is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns, #114 of 253 in Virginia State. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Virginia Beach?
36 listings, 2 of them National Historic Landmarks: 24 buildings, 10 historic districts with 751 contributing buildings, and 2 structures. 787 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Virginia Beach?
1% of Virginia Beach’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia State town; the median home was built in 1984.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (17), the Library of Congress (3), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (36), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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