The Commonwealth of Virginia (named after Queen Elizabeth I of England, who was known as the Virgin Queen) is one of the original thirteen states of the United States that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution. It is located in the Southern United States but is sometimes included, geographically, in the Mid-Atlantic States.
Abingdon Alexandria Appomattox Arlington Ashburn Ashland Atkins Bedford Blacksburg Bluefield Bracey Bristol Burkeville Carrollton Centreville Chantilly Charlottesville Chesapeake Chester Chilhowie Chincoteague Christiansburg Clarksville Claypool Hill Collinsville Colonial Beach Colonial Heights Covington Culpeper Daleville Danville Doswell Dublin Dulles Dumfries Emporia Exmore Fairfax Falls Church Fancy Gap Farmville Fishersville Franklin Fredericksburg Front Royal Galax Glade Spring Glen Allen Gloucester Gordonsville Grundy Hampton Harrisonburg Herndon Hillsville Hopewell Hot Springs Irvington Keswick King George La Crosse Lebanon Leesburg Lexington Lorton Luray Lynchburg Madison Heights Manassas Marion Martinsville Max Meadows Mechanicsville Middleburg Middletown Midlothian Mount Jackson Natural Bridge New Market Newport News Norfolk Norton Onley Orange Pembroke Petersburg Portsmouth Pulaski Radford Raphine Reston Richmond Ridgeway Roanoke Rocky Mount Rosslyn Ruther Glen Salem Sandston Skippers South Boston South Hill Springfield Stafford Staunton Stephens City Sterling Stony Creek Strasburg Suffolk Tappahannock Thornburg Triangle Troutville Verona Vesuvius Vienna Virginia Beach Warrenton Warsaw Waynesboro Williamsburg Winchester Wintergreen Wise Woodbridge Woodstock Wytheville Yorktown
It is one of four states that use the name commonwealth. Virginia was the first part of the Americas to be colonized permanently by England.
Virginia is known as the "Mother of Presidents", because it is the birthplace of eight U.S. presidents (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, Woodrow Wilson, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler and Zachary Taylor), more than any other state. Four of the first five presidents were from Virginia, and seven of the first twelve. The most recent Virginian president was Woodrow Wilson, the 28th president. Virginia has also been known as the "Mother of States", because portions of the original Colony subsequently became Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, and West Virginia as well as some portions of Ohio.
Virginia is bordered by West Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia (across the Potomac River) to the north; by Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean to the east; by North Carolina and Tennessee to the south; and by Kentucky and West Virginia to the west.
The Chesapeake Bay divides the state, with the eastern portion (called 'the Eastern Shore of Virginia'), a part of the Delmarva Peninsula, completely separate (an exclave) from the rest of the state.
Geographically, Virginia is divided into the following 5 regions:Virginia's long east-west axis means that metropolitan northern Virginia lies much closer to New York and New England than to the rural western panhandle of its own state. Conversely, Lee County, at the tip of the panhandle, is closer to 8 other state capitals than it is to Richmond.
Areas managed by the National Park Service include:
* Appalachian National Scenic Trail * Appomattox Court House National Historical Park in Appomattox * Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial at Arlington * Assateague Island National Seashore * Blue Ridge Parkway * Booker T Washington National Monument at Hardy * Cape Henry Memorial at Fort Story * Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park near Middletown * Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network * Claude Moore Colonial Farm in McLean * Colonial National Historical Park near Jamestown * Fredericksburg National Cemetery and Fredericksburg National Military Park near Fredericksburg * George Washington Memorial Parkway * George Washington Birthplace National Monument in Westmoreland County * Great Falls Park at McLean * Green Springs in Louisa County * Jamestown National Historic Site at James City County * Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove on the Potomac at Arlington * Maggie L Walker National Historic Site in Richmond * Manassas National Battlefield Park at Manassas * Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail * Petersburg National Battlefield * Poplar Grove National Cemetery near Petersburg * Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail * Prince William Forest Park at Triangle * Richmond National Battlefield Park at Richmond * Shenandoah National Park near Luray * Theodore Roosevelt Island Park at Arlington * Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts at Vienna * Yorktown National Cemetery and Battlefield at Yorktown
At the end of the 16th century, when England began to colonize North America, Queen Elizabeth I of England (who was known as the "Virgin Queen" because she never married) gave the name "Virginia" to the whole area explored by the 1584 expedition of Sir Walter Raleigh along the coast of North America. The name eventually applied to the whole coast from South Carolina to Maine. The London Virginia Company became incorporated as a joint stock company by a proprietary charter drawn up on April 10, 1606.
American Revolutionary War, the capital was moved to Richmond at the urging of then-Governor Thomas Jefferson, who was afraid that Williamsburg's location made it vulnerable to a British attack. In the autumn of 1781, American troops trapped the British on the Yorktown peninsula in the famous Battle of Yorktown. This prompted a British surrender on October 19, 1781, formally ending the war and securing the former colonies' independence, even though sporadic fighting continued for two years.
Virginia is one of the states that seceded from the Union (on April 17, 1861) and operated independently until it joined the Confederacy during the Civil War when it turned over its military on June 8 and ratified the Constitution of the Confederate States on June 19. When it did, some counties were separated as Kanawha (later renamed West Virginia), an act which was upheld by the United States Supreme Court in 1870. More battles were fought on Virginia soil than anywhere else in America during the Civil War. The city of Richmond served as the capital of the Confederacy during the war. Virginia formally rejoined the Union on January 26, 1870, after a period of post-war military rule.
Virginia is served by a network of Interstate Highways, arterial highways, several limited-access tollways, bridges, tunnels and even bridge-tunnels.
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In the Hampton Roads area, there are three bridge-tunnel complexes known as the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel, and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. Two tunnels and numerous bridges span portions of the Elizabeth River. The James River Bridge, opened in 1928, and rebuilt in the 1970s, spans the James River near its mouth and north of the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel.
The Springfield Interchange Project is a major effort to help traffic flow at the Interstate 95, 395, and Capital Beltway (495) interchange south of Washington, D.C. Virginia has Amtrak passenger rail service along several corridors, and Virginia Railway Express (VRE) maintains two commuter lines into Washington, D.C. The Washington Metro serves Northern Virginia as far west as Fairfax County.
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