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Birth of Regionalism in Hampton Roads
(For more Norfolk geography tidbits, click here.)
On January 1, 1963, the remainder of Princess Anne County -- which Norfolk had begun annexing in 1959 -- was absorbed by the city of Virginia Beach; and, on the same date, South Norfolk and the remainder of Norfolk County -- into which the city of Norfolk had been expanding since its beginnings as a town -- merged to form the city of Chesapeake. The  geopolitical landscape was dramatically changing; in one sweep, no more counties existed on Norfolk's borders. In 1972, Norfolk's nearest neighboring county, Nansemond County, became its own city (Nansemond), and two years later, Suffolk would absorb Nansemond to become Virginia's larges area in square miles. And on the peninsula side, Warwick County had already become, in 1952, its own city (Warwick), which, in 1958, was merged with Newport News. Once-dominant Norfolk was now just one of seven sizable neighboring cities ("the Seven Cities") -- Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Newport News, and Hampton.
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