Virginia Beach

Virginia Beach is where America began and where it projects power. English colonists first landed at Cape Henry in 1607 before moving on to Jamestown. The British Navy shelled the area in the War of 1812, and free Black farmers who had settled here called the place 'Seatack.' The resort identity came later: the Virginia Beach Hotel opened in 1883, The Cavalier Hotel in 1927, and the town incorporated in 1906. The decisive transformation came in 1963 when Virginia Beach merged with Princess Anne County, creating the sprawling 310-square-mile city that exists today.

The Navy found Virginia Beach's coastline irresistible. Naval Air Station Oceana, commissioned in 1943, is the East Coast Master Jet Base—home to 19 F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet squadrons with 16,450 personnel. Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story trains expeditionary forces across 4,000 acres and 7.5 miles of beachfront, employing another 15,472. Together these bases generate $21 billion in military payroll and $5 billion in procurement. The military is the economy.

But the beach is the brand. The Guinness Book lists Virginia Beach as having the longest pleasure beach in the world. In 2022, 13.64 million visitors spent $2.4 billion, generating $3.7 billion in economic impact and sustaining 32,000 jobs—19% of local employment. The city has pushed to become a year-round destination: the $68 million Virginia Beach Sports Center hosts NCAA championships that bring 10,000 athletes on weekends in February.

Virginia Beach is Virginia's most populous city and the 43rd largest in America. By 2026, it bets on a dual identity: resort town for tourists, launch pad for naval aviation. Both depend on the same coastline that attracted settlers four centuries ago.